The research presented in this thesis addresses the above mentioned issue on the basis of four psychophysiological experiments. These experiments were aimed at separately manipulating concentrations of circulating adrenaline and noradrenaline by means of infusions of catecholamines, pharmacological interventions, or psychological (mental stress) challenges in healthy subjects, during studies of the effects on cardiovascular activity and subjective mood. In particular, the dynamics of the cardiovascular system were evaluated in relation to circulating noradrenaline and adrenaline by employing the method of spectral analysis of haemodynamic variables. In order to increase our understanding of the metabolism and renal excretion of catecholamines, special attention was paid to urinary catecholamine metabolites, in relation to altered plasma catecholamine concentrations. In the experiments presented in this thesis, plasma catecholamine concentrations were manipulated by means of pharmacological and psychological challenges. The subjects participating in the studies were healthy young male volunteers, recruited by means of advertisements. All volunteers were subjected to a medical, psychiatric and psychological screening to exclude abnormalities in physical and mental health. Careful attention was paid to the control of confounding factors such as posture, food intake, smoking, and drinking. Where appropriate, endocrine and metabolic parameters were monitored in order to control for the possible effects of our manipulations on these parameters

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Parts of the research presented in this thesis were made possible by a grant from The Netherlands Heart Foundation (86-053).
A.J. Man in 't Veld (Arie) , L. Pepplinkhuizen (Lolke)
Erasmus University Rotterdam
hdl.handle.net/1765/39429
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

Tulen, J. (1993, June 2). Catecholamines, mood, and cardiovascular control. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/39429