The psychobiology of burnout: are there two different syndromes?

Background: Plasma prolactin levels are sensitive to dopamine and serotonin function, and fatigue. Low cortisol, dopamine and/or serotonin may be involved in burnout and detachment.

Methods: In this double-blind within-subject study, we treated 9 female burnout subjects and 9 controls with 35 mg cortisol and placebo orally.

Error-related ERP components and individual differences in punishment and reward sensitivity.

Although the focus of the discussion regarding the significance of the error related negatively (ERN/Ne) has been on the cognitive factors reflected in this component, there is now a growing body of research that describes influences of motivation, affective style and other factors of personality on ERN/Ne amplitude. The present study was conducted to further evaluate the relationship between affective style, error related ERP components and their neural basis. Therefore, we had our subjects fill out the Behavioral Activation System/Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS/BAS) scales, which are based on Gray's (1987, 1989) biopsychological theory of personality.

Task engagement and the relationships between the error-related negativity, agreeableness, behavioral shame proneness and cortisol.

Previous results suggest that both cortisol mobilization and the error-related negativity (ERN/Ne) reflect goal engagement, i.e. the mobilization and allocation of attentional and physiological resources.

Mental fatigue, motivation and action monitoring.

In this study we examined whether the effects of mental fatigue on behaviour are due to reduced action monitoring as indexed by the error related negativity (Ne/ERN), N2 and contingent negative variation (CNV) event-related potential (ERP) components. Therefore, we had subjects perform a task, which required a high degree of action monitoring, continuously for 2h. In addition we tried to relate the observed behavioural and electrophysiological changes to motivational processes and individual differences.

Effects of mental fatigue on attention: an ERP study.

The effects of mental fatigue on attention were assessed. Subjects performed a visual attention task for 3 h without rest. Subjective levels of fatigue, performance measures and EEG were recorded.

Acute cortisol administration modulates EEG alpha asymmetry in volunteers: relevance to depression.

The acute effects of cortisol (35mg) administration in 11 healthy male volunteers on resting frontal EEG asymmetry measured in the alpha band were investigated, using a within-subjects double-blind design. Results were indicative of a relative increase of right frontal activity with cortisol. This pattern of activity is similar to the deviant pattern that has been reported in patients suffering from depression, a condition often accompanied by elevated plasma cortisol levels.

Acute cortisol effects on immediate free recall and recognition of nouns depend on stimulus valence.

The present study investigated the acute effects of cortisol administration in normal healthy male volunteers on immediate free recall and recognition of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral nouns using a between-subjects double-blind design. Two hours after cortisol (10 mg) or placebo administration, impaired recall and recognition of neutral and pleasant words was found in the treatment group, whereas recall and recognition of unpleasant words was similar in both groups. The interaction between treatment and stimulus valence was not mediated by "semantic cohesion," nor does it seem to have been mediated by stimulus arousal.

Mental fatigue and the control of cognitive processes: effects on perseveration and planning.

We tested whether behavioural manifestations of mental fatigue may be linked to compromised executive control, which refers to the ability to regulate perceptual and motor processes for goal-directed behaviour. In complex tasks, compromised executive control may become manifest as decreased flexibility and sub-optimal planning. In the study we use the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Tower of London (TOL), which respectively measure flexibility (e.

Motor fatigue and cognitive task performance in humans.

During fatiguing submaximal contractions a constant force production can be obtained at the cost of an increasing central command intensity. Little is known about the interaction between the underlying central mechanisms driving motor behaviour and cognitive functions. To address this issue, subjects performed four tasks: an auditory choice reaction task (CRT), a CRT simultaneously with a fatiguing or a non-fatiguing submaximal muscle contraction task, and a fatiguing submaximal contraction task alone.