Psychosocial Stress Evoked by a Virtual Audience: Relation to Neuroendocrine Activity

Abstract

A modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was employed to determine whether exposure to a virtual audience using virtual reality (VR) technology would prompt an increase of neuroendocrine activity comparable to that prompted by a real audience. Following an anticipatory period, participants completed a speech or a speech-plus-math challenge in front of either a virtual audience, a panel of judges they were led to believe was behind a one-way mirror, or an audience comprised of confederates. An additional group that had prepared a speech was simply directed to observe the virtual audience but did not deliver the speech. Finally, a control group completed questionnaires for the duration of the experiment. Cortisol samples were obtained upon arrival to the laboratory, just before the challenge, and 15 and 30 minutes after the task. Participants also completed a measure assessing stressor appraisals of the task before and after the challenge. Anticipation of the task was associated with a modest increase of cortisol levels, and a further rise of cortisol was evident in response to the challenge. The neuroendocrine changes evoked by the virtual audience were comparable to those elicited by the imagined audience (behind the one-way mirror) but less than changes evoked by the panel of confederates. Stressor appraisals were higher post-challenge compared to those reported prior to the task; however, appraisals were similar across each group. These data suggest that VR technology may be amenable to evaluating the impact of psychosocial stressors such as the TSST.

A virtual reality approach to the Trier Social Stress Test: Contrasting two distinct protocols

“…In fact, the two aims of this study stemmed from results such as those reported by Kotlyar et al (2008), showing that the TSST-VR produces sympathetic activation and engages the HPA axis. Similarly, Kelly et al (2007) concluded that the TSST-VR activates the stress response and constitutes a useful tool in that it solves some of the limitations associated with the traditional TSST.…”

“…One of these issues pertains to the presentation of the virtual environments that are common to most. Some investigators have projected 3D environments onto large screens (Santos-Ruiz et al, 2010), while others have used goggles (Jönsson et al, 2009;Kelly et al, 2007). Despite these differences, no study has contrasted the various versions of the TSST-VR to detect which form of presentation results in a greater response to the stress generated by the task.…”

“…In a related investigation, Kelly, Matheson, Martinez, Merali, and Anisma (2007) utilized the TSST-VR, as delivered by Virtually Better Inc., Atlanta, GA, in which a previously recorded virtual audience was presented in 3D. Results indicated that giving a speech and carrying out an arithmetic task in front of a virtual audience produced a significant increase in salivary cortisol (30 %), even though the increase was greater when both tasks were conducted in front of a real audience (90 %).…”

Is a Dark Virtual Environment Scary?

“…29,30 The TSST reliably provokes significant changes of cardiovascular parameters, subjective distress ratings, and an increase of cortisol levels, 29 even in a virtual reality setting. 41 At the start of the TSST, the investigator led the participant from room A to room B, where three jury members were seated behind a table. They were introduced as experts in nonverbal behavior and public speaking analysis.…”

Extracting Knowledge from On-Line Forums for Non-Obstructive Psychological Counseling Q&A System

“…Many researchers has dedicated to the application of computer and artificial intelligence in psychiatry [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Two clinical psychologists, Jaap Hollander and Jeffrey Wijnberg, developed the first on-line computer robot program psychologist Mind-Mentor [23], which maintains a conversation with a user by using a set of static and predefined rules.…”