Abstract
A significant number of normal and chronically anxious subjects were able to discriminate subjectively between a session in which they received naloxone and one which they received a placebo. However, affective and physiological measures did not differ significantly between the drug and placebo sessions. The weakness of the response makes it unlikely that a naloxone-responsive endogenous opioid system is substantially involved in the regulation of anxiety. An unexpected finding from the placebo session data was that, despite increased forehead muscle tension and high self-ratings of distress, chronically anxious subjects showed consistently stable sympathetic activity under resting conditions and mild stress, indicating the existence of a subgroup of generalized anxiety patients with low autonomic reactivity.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1041-1050 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Biological psychiatry |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 11 |
State | Published - Dec 1 1981 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biological Psychiatry