Cortisol, Alpha-amylase and Mind Wandering: Possible Mechanisms Behind The Stress Induced Changes in Attention

The effects of stress on attention have been documented in the literature as having an inverse effect on performance. Empirical studies of attention have focused  on the type of stress, psychological processes or specific task demands to determine this inverse relationship. However, prior research has not examined possible mechanisms that influence attention under stressful conditions. Due to the role of attention in a variety of cognitive processes understanding the mechanisms influencing stress and its inverse effects on attention is important. Prior studies have suggested that stress may influence other attention-related cognitive processes through two possible mechanisms – mind wandering and cortisol. The present study will investigate changes in mind wandering and salivary biomarkers of stress (cortisol and alpha-amylase) following a laboratory stressor task. The measures of mind wandering and salivary biomarkers of stress will be collected during three administrations of the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART). In order to induce stress, participants will complete a socially-evaluative cold-pressor task (SECPT), that has been shown to increase both subjective and physiological stress responses. We hypothesize that participants who complete the SECPT will show increases in cortisol, alpha-amylase and an increased likelihood to engage in mind wandering compared to control participants who do not complete the SECPT. Additionally, we hypothesize this increase in cortisol, alpha-amylase and mind wandering will result in decrements in SART performance in individuals who complete the SECPT compared to individuals in the control condition. Preliminary analysis suggests that increases in mind-wandering are related to decreases in SART performance.