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Cited by 176Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPsychosomatic Disorders and Their TreatmentsStress Responses and Cortisol

Conscious and unconscious perseverative cognition: Is a large part of prolonged physiological activity due to unconscious stress?

Brosschot, Jos F., Verkuil, Bart, Thayer, Julian F.·2010·Journal of Psychosomatic Research
DOI 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2010.02.002
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Abstract

Prolonged physiological activity is believed to be a key factor mediating between stress and later disease outcomes. Few studies, however, have investigated the crucial psychological factors that cause prolonged activity. This article proposes that conscious as well as unconscious perseverative cognition are the critical factors. Perseverative cognition indicates repetitive or sustained activation of cognitive representations of past stressful events or feared events in the future. In daily life, most prolonged physiological activity is not due to stressful events but to perseverative cognition about them. We and others have already found evidence that conscious perseverative cognition, i.e., worry, has physiological effects, in both laboratory and real life settings, and that perseverative cognition mediates prolonged responses to stressful events. Yet, there are convincing reasons to expect that unconscious perseverative cognition has an even larger role in stress-related prolonged activity. Firstly, since the greater part of cognitive processing operates without awareness, a considerable part of perseverative cognition is likely to be unconscious too. People may not be aware of most of their stress-related cognitive processes. Secondly, our recent studies have shown that increased activity of the autonomic nervous system continues after conscious perseverative cognition has stopped: It goes on for several hours and even during sleep. This and several other findings suggest that a considerable part of increased physiological activity may be due to unconscious perseverative cognition. The article closes with suggesting methods to test unconscious perseverative cognition and ways to change it, and concludes with stating that the notion of unconscious perseverative cognition potentially opens an entirely new area within stress research.

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  • The lack of parallel skin conductance findings may reflect parasympathetic regulation of heart rate but not skin conductance, and mindfulness may be especially relevant to concordance involving parasympathetic regulation.

    “This may be attributable to the role of the parasympathetic nervous system in regulating HR but not SC (Diamond & Otter-Henderson, 2007) and it is possible the construct of mindfulness is particularly salient to concordance between subjective distress and physiological reactivity in which there is parasympathetic regulation (Brosschot, Verkuil & Thayer, 2010; Williams & Thayer, 2009).”

    From Dispositional Mindfulness Uncouples Physiological and Emotional Reactivity to a Laboratory Stressor and Emotional Reactivity to Executive Functioning Lapses in Daily Life (2016) · cites this paper as Brosschot, Verkuil & Thayer, 2010

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Authors
Brosschot, J. F., Verkuil, B., & Thayer, J. F.
Affiliations
  • Leiden University (NL)
  • The Ohio State University (US)
Corresponding author
Brosschot, Jos F.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Psychosomatic Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-10
Volume
69
Issue
4
Pages
407-416
ISSN
0022-3999 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.jpsychores.2010.02.002
OpenAlex
W2167618279
Cited by
176
References
89
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 5
FWCI
0.84
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Journal of Psychosomatic Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
Keywords
perseverative cognition, unconscious cognition, stress, worry, autonomic nervous system, stress-related disorders
MeSH terms
Cognition, Humans, Stress, Psychological

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