TY - GEN
T1 - Salivy α-amylase in biobehavioral research
T2 - Recent developments and applications
AU - Granger, Douglas A.
AU - Kivlighan, Katie T.
AU - El-Sheikh, Mona
AU - Gordis, Elana B.
AU - Stroud, Laura R.
PY - 2007/3
Y1 - 2007/3
N2 - In the history of science, technical advances often precede periods of rapid accumulation of knowledge. Within the past three decades, discoveries that enabled the noninvasive measurement of the psychobiology of stress (in saliva) have added new dimensions to the study of health and human development. This widespread enthusiasm has led to somewhat of a renaissance in behavioral science. At the cutting edge, the focus is on testing innovative theoretical models of individual differences in behavior as a function of multilevel biosocial processes in the context of everyday life. Several new studies have generated renewed interest in salivary α-amylase (sAA) as a surrogate marker of the autonomic/ sympathetic nervous system component of the psychobiology of stress. This article reviews sAA's properties and functions; presents illustrative findings relating sAA to stress and the physiology of stress, behavior, cognitive function, and health; and provides practical information regarding specimen collection and assay. The overarching intent is to accelerate the learning curve such that investigators avoid potential pitfalls associated with integrating this unique salivary analyte into the next generation of biobehavioral research.
AB - In the history of science, technical advances often precede periods of rapid accumulation of knowledge. Within the past three decades, discoveries that enabled the noninvasive measurement of the psychobiology of stress (in saliva) have added new dimensions to the study of health and human development. This widespread enthusiasm has led to somewhat of a renaissance in behavioral science. At the cutting edge, the focus is on testing innovative theoretical models of individual differences in behavior as a function of multilevel biosocial processes in the context of everyday life. Several new studies have generated renewed interest in salivary α-amylase (sAA) as a surrogate marker of the autonomic/ sympathetic nervous system component of the psychobiology of stress. This article reviews sAA's properties and functions; presents illustrative findings relating sAA to stress and the physiology of stress, behavior, cognitive function, and health; and provides practical information regarding specimen collection and assay. The overarching intent is to accelerate the learning curve such that investigators avoid potential pitfalls associated with integrating this unique salivary analyte into the next generation of biobehavioral research.
KW - Behavior problems
KW - Cognition
KW - Health
KW - Psychobiology of stress
KW - Salivary alpha-amylase
KW - Social relationships
KW - Sympathetic nervous system
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34248187582&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=34248187582&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1196/annals.1384.008
DO - 10.1196/annals.1384.008
M3 - Conference contribution
C2 - 17332070
AN - SCOPUS:34248187582
SN - 157331661X
SN - 9781573316613
T3 - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
SP - 122
EP - 144
BT - Oral-based Diagnostics
PB - Blackwell Publishing Inc.
ER -