Effects of pre-experience of social exclusion on hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and catecholaminergic responsiveness to public speaking stress.
BACKGROUND: Being socially excluded is associated with a variety of psychological changes and with an increased risk of disease.Today, the immediate physiological consequences of being socially excluded are not well understood.In two recent studies employing a standardized exclusion paradigm (Cyberball) we found social exclusion in this virtual gam