Probable Mechanism by Which Somatic Changes in Certain Emotional States Are Mediated. ∗

Abstract

Somatic changes commonly occur as the result of emotional reactions such as fear, tension and anxiety. Among the somatic changes are sweating, tachycardia, elevation of blood pressure, leucocytosis, increased intestinal peristalsis and alterations in metabolism of glucose and in skin temperature. Results of investigations on certain of these changes were reported by Diethelm 1 on glucose metabolism, Mittelmann and Wolff 2 on skin temperature, and Milhorat, Small and Diethelm 3 on leucocytosis.

In the present investigations an attempt was made to understand the mechanism or mechanisms by which these somatic changes are mediated. Many of the changes resemble those induced by the administration of adrenalergic and cholinergic drugs. In fact, Cannon and de la Paz 4 observed that blood withdrawn from the suprarenal veins of cats during periods of fear had adrenalergic effects on a surviving strip of rabbit intestine, whereas blood drawn while the animals were quiet had no such effect. The method used in the present studies represents a modification of the procedure of Cannon and is described below. The method of determination of adrenalin in the blood by colorimetric means, 5 was found unsatisfactory for our purposes.

Methods and Materials. Healthy adult rabbits were killed by a blow on the head. The intestines were removed immediately and with careful handling were washed in saline. A loop of intestine was suspended in Ringer-Tyrode's solution, attached to a recording lever and the contractions were recorded on a kymograph. The solution was gently agitated throughout the experiment by means of a stream of air bubbles. The bottle containing the muscle strip and Ringer-Tyrode's solution was suspended in a water bath at 37°C.

The blood was drawn from the patient's cubital vein, mixed immediately with heparin in a small Erlenmyer flask and within a period of 3 minutes, 5 cc were added to the Ringer-Tyrode's solution. The amounts of heparin used were found to be without influence on the spontaneous activity of the muscle or on the response to the pharmacologic agents used.