Urinary excretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline during prolonged perceptual deprivation.

Ss who successfully completed 1 wk. of perceptual isolation showed no significant changes in urinary excretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline relative to controls. They also showed no changes on a behavioral measure of subjective stress and mood. Isolation "quitters," i.e., those who failed to complete the prescribed period, also showed no change in noradrenaline. Their urinary excretion of adrenaline, however, increased, but only in Ss who terminated isolation late in the 1-wk period. Perhaps the most important characteristic of the isolation quitters was the presence of a significantly lower base-line level of adrenaline, relative to that of the successful experimental Ss, not only prior to isolation but also many mo. after its termination. No such difference was found for noradrenaline. These results seem to suggest that isolation quitters may be biochemically or "constitutionally" different from volunteers who can successfully complete a prolonged period of perceptual isolation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)