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Abstract
Salivary cortisol is frequently used as a biomarker of psychological stress. However,
psychobiological mechanisms, which trigger the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis
(HPAA) can only indirectly be assessed by salivary cortisol measures. The different
instances that control HPAA reactivity (hippocampus, hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenals)
and their respective modulators, receptors, or binding proteins, may all affect salivary
cortisol measures. Thus, a linear relationship with measures of plasma ACTH and cortisol
in blood or urine does not necessarily exist. This is particularly true under response
conditions. The present paper addresses several psychological and biological variables,
which may account for such dissociations, and aims to help researchers to rate the
validity and psychobiological significance of salivary cortisol as an HPAA biomarker
of stress in their experiments.