Salivary Cortisol Levels and Stress Reactivity in Human Aging
Abstract
BACKGROUND: While homeostatic mechanisms are generally believed to become less efficient in the aging organism, evidence for changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function is inconclusive. Previous studies report higher, lower, or unchanged basal cortisol levels in human aging. Delayed recovery of glucocorticoids to baseline following stress exposure has been observed in aging rats, but the generalizability of these findings to humans remains unclear. METHODS: Salivary-free cortisol was measured at home and in response to a laboratory speech task in 56 healthy men and women in three age groups (range 43-86 yr). RESULTS: Higher basal cortisol levels were observed in older age groups. Gender, recent life stress, and current distress showed no relationship to basal levels. The magnitude of cortisol responses to the speech task differed by age, with the smallest responses in the oldest group. This pattern was robust in men, with the youngest subjects (40-59 yr) showing both the largest and the most prolonged responses. While women > 70 yr were least likely to show any response, other analyses failed to show age effects on reactivity in women, perhaps because anticipatory baseline elevations limited subsequent cortisol response. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate moderate increases in basal cortisol levels, but do not support the hypothesis that cortisol responses to a stressor increase in magnitude or duration during normal human aging. Gender differences in stress reactivity warrant further investigation.
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Nicolson et al. showed no change in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity and the subsequent release of cortisol from the adrenal gland until ages over 70.
“In contrast, studying the effect of age on salivatory cortisol concentration by Nicolson et al.[ 27 ] showed no change in the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) activity and the subsequent release of the steroid hormone cortisol from the outer cortex of the adrenal gland until the ages of over 70.”
From MicroSweat: A wearable microfluidic patch for noninvasive and reliable sweat collection enables human stress monitoring (2023) · cites this paper as [27]
Nicolson et al. found no difference in salivary cortisol levels between males and females at all ages except for higher cortisol levels in old women than in old men.
“In addition, they found no difference in salivary cortisol levels between males and females at all ages except for higher cortisol levels in old women than in old men.”
From MicroSweat: A wearable microfluidic patch for noninvasive and reliable sweat collection enables human stress monitoring (2023) · cites this paper as [27]
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- Authors
- Nicolson, N., Storms, C., Ponds, R., & Sulon, J.
- Affiliations
- Maastricht University (NL)
- University of Liège (BE)
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1997-03-01
- Volume
- 52A
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- M68-M75
- ISSN
- 1079-5006 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-535X
- OpenAlex
- W2136504332
- Cited by
- 139
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 2.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series A (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Keywords
- salivary cortisol, aging, stress reactivity, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, speech stressor, sex differences
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Aging, Emotions, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Middle Aged, Saliva, Sex Characteristics, Speech, Stress, Psychological, Time Factors
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