Rl. Kohl, AUTONOMIC FUNCTION AND PLASMA-CATECHOLAMINES FOLLOWING STRESSFUL SENSORY STIMULI, Aviation, space, and environmental medicine, 64(10), 1993, pp. 921-927
This experimentation defined a limited role for epinephrine in the aut
onomic nervous system function and the nausea that occurred following
motion sickness testing. Individual responses to stressful sensory sti
muli and nausea, as reflected by rising peripheral levels of epinephri
ne, were not significantly diminished upon repeated exposure and adapt
ation to the stressor. However, subjects who demonstrated more robust
elevations of epinephrine in response to nausea displayed higher resis
tances to stressful motion stimuli. Modulation of peripheral catechola
minergic function with dexamethasone, or scopolamine plus amphetamine,
suggested that altered autonomic nervous system function and nausea f
ollowing motion sickness testing were not mediated by peripheral catec
holamine receptor stimulation. Marked differences were noted in indivi
dual responses to drug and systemic responses of epinephrine and norep
inephrine. It is possible that responses in epinephrine to motion sick
ness testing may predict resistance to stressful motion, and represent
a peripheral manifestation of some as yet unknown central event of et
iologic relevance.