Physiological modifications and increase in state anxiety in volunteers submitted to the Stroop Color-Word Interference Test: A preliminary study

For the experimental evaluation of new drugs with a potential anxiolytic effect, there are anima] models that can accurately predict clinical activity. However, because of ethical factors, there are few experimental models that allow a reliable evaluation of the anxiolytic activity of drugs in studies performed with human beings. From among them, the Simulated Public Speaking and Stroop Color-Word Interference Test are notable although they are limited by the need to use subjective evaluation scales. The present study was aimed at making the determination of anxiolytic activity of drugs in normal volunteers less subjective by evaluating physiological as well as psychological alterations in subjects submitted to the anxiogenic situation of the Stroop Color-Word Interference Test. Twenty-four volunteers were submitted to the recorded version of Stroop Color-Word Interference Test, and psychological parameters (state anxiety) and physiological parameters (arterial pressure, heart rate, temperature, skin conductance, and frontal and forearm electromyograms) were evaluated before, during, and after the test. Significant differences in temperature, skin conductance and state anxiety of the volunteers were observed between the test situations. These results indicated that the Stroop Color-Word Interference Test can induce, beyond psychological alterations, some physiological alterations that could be used to make the evaluation of the anxiolytic activity of drugs more objective. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc All rights reserved.