Collaboration with the POSE Lab
The Affective Neuroscience Lab works closely with the Psychophysiology of Stress and
Emotion Lab (POSE) at Kennesaw State University, directed by Sharon Pearcey (Psychology)
and V. Doreen Wagner (School of Nursing). The POSE lab assays saliva collections for
various hormones that are of interest to both labs.
Reproductive hormone effects on female anxiety
Free circulating steroid hormones, 17β-Estradiol (E2) and progesterone, are major
reproductive hormones that may play a role in cognition. Salivary samples are collected
once at the beginning of the experiment and assayed by the POSE lab (mean pg/mL) in
duplicates with commercially available Salimetrics Enzyme Immunoassay Kits (Salimetrics,
State College, PA), which are competitive immunoassays specifically designed and validated
for the quantitative measurement of relevant salivary hormones.
Stress-related factors in emotion regulation
Through our ongoing collaboration with the POSE lab, we are examining the role of
cortisol, DHEA, and DHEA-S on emotion regulatory processes. Free circulating stress
hormones are excreted by the adrenal gland and linked to the stress response system.
Salivary samples of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and dehydroepiandrosterone
sulphate DHEA-S samples are collected at four time points in the experiment: (1) immediately
after consent and survey completion (before behavioral training), (2) immediately
at the end of the Acquisition trial, (3) immediately at the end of the Extinction
trial, (4) 20 minutes after the end of the Extinction trial.