Baseline salivary cortisol levels and preconscious selective attention forthreat - A pilot study

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between baseline saliv ary cortisol (CORT) levels and selective attention for displays of angry fa ces. Selective attention was investigated using a pictorial emotional Stroo p task, comparing colournaming-speed of angry and neutral faces. The task w as assessed in supraliminal (unmasked) and subliminal (masked) conditions t o 28 non-clinical subjects (14 male and 14 female). Repeated measures analy sis of variance revealed a significant interaction between median split COR T levels (low vs. high) and masked face valence (angry vs, neutral). The la tter effect was mainly due to significant facilitation in the high CORT sub ject-group; these subjects seemed to allocate their attention away from the masked angry face. A relation between baseline CORT levels and fast withdr awal behavior is suggested. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reser ved.