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Salivary α‐Amylase in Biobehavioral Research
Author(s) -
GRANGER DOUGLAS A.,
KIVLIGHAN KATIE T.,
ElSHEIKH MONA,
GORDIS ELANA B.,
STROUD LAURA R.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1384.008
Subject(s) - behavioral neuroscience , context (archaeology) , biosocial theory , enthusiasm , cognition , psychology , neuroscience , medicine , personality , social psychology , biology , paleontology
: 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 .