The impact of stress on the dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) response in older population is understudied. This study investigated, in healthy older people, whether the DHEA and cortisol responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was related to performance on this task. Both speech (rated by committee and self-rated) and arithmetic (number of mistakes) performance were assessed. Sixty-five participants (55-77 years old) were exposed to the TSST. Increases in negative affect, state anxiety, and cortisol levels could be observed, but there were no significant changes in positive affect or DHEA levels. Interestingly, a larger DHEA response was related to better verbal performance after controlling for the cortisol's reactivity. No relationships were found between hormonal responses and the arithmetic task performance. Our results suggest that, in healthy older people, an increase in DHEA levels in response to acute psychosocial stress may help them to cope with this stressor by increasing verbal performance.

中文翻译：

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健康老年人压力期间的言语表现：脱氢表雄酮 (DHEA) 和皮质醇反应性的影响

压力对老年人脱氢表雄酮 (DHEA) 反应的影响尚未得到充分研究。这项研究调查了健康老年人的 DHEA 和皮质醇对特里尔社会压力测试 (TSST) 的反应是否与这项任务的表现有关。对演讲（由委员会评分和自评）和算术（错误次数）表现进行了评估。65 名参与者（55-77 岁）暴露于 TSST。可以观察到负面情绪、状态焦虑和皮质醇水平的增加，但正面情绪或 DHEA 水平没有显着变化。有趣的是，在控制皮质醇的反应性后，较大的 DHEA 反应与更好的语言表现有关。在荷尔蒙反应和算术任务表现之间没有发现任何关系。我们的结果表明，