Adrenocortical Responses to Repeated Parachute Jumping and Subsequent h-CRH Challenge in Inexperienced Healthy Subjects
Section snippets
Subjects
Sixteen volunteers, 10 men and 6 women, aged between 23 and 40 years, participated in this study after they had given their informed written consent. All subjects (Ss) were members of the University of Trier, either students or employees. The subjects applied for participation in a psychobiological experiment including a short parachute jumping course with 3 jumps. A discount of DM 170 (from originally DM 270) for participation in the course was offered for all subjects who agreed to
Results
The individual cortisol values of each subject are shown in Fig. 1. Parachute jumping induced highly significant cortisol peaks as compared to corresponding baseline values (see Fig. 2). The mean cortisol increases were 39.4 ± 26.5 nmol/l (means ± SD), 31.4 ± 21.4 nmol/l, and 16.5 ± 11.9 nmol/l for the first, second, and third jump, respectively. Neither peaks nor increases differed between the first and the second jump [peaks: t(13) = 1.48, p = 0.16; increases: t(13) = 1.63, p = 0.13], but a
Discussion
In our study, we observed adrenocortical responses to parachute jumping exceeding those to common stressors by far 2, 3, 9, 16. Despite its strong adrenocortical effect, the first repetition of the stressor did not result in a reduced reponse. Rather, the mean cortisol increase and peak values were comparable in response to the first 2 jumps. This is in accordance with other studies that reported unchanged cortisol resonses to stressors repeated once 5, 8, 16. The adrenocortical response to the
Acknowledgements
We are indebted to Prof. Dr. Kühne, University of Trier, who made this study possible.
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2016, Physiology and BehaviorCitation Excerpt :Little objective information about alpha-amylase or cortisol reactivity is available in extreme sports enthusiasts. Heterogeneity in cortisol reactivity has been documented in parachute jumpers [25]. Skydiving has been shown to stimulate a rise in salivary cortisol compared to the level before the jump and at recovery in both novice and experienced skydivers [26].
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