Salivary Cortisol Reaction Norms in Zoo-Housed Great Apes: Diurnal Slopes and Intercepts as Indicators of Stress Response Quality.

ABSTRACT: Monitoring changes in cortisol levels is a widespread tool for measuring individuals' stress responses. However, an acute increase in cortisol levels does not necessarily denote an individual in distress, as increases in cortisol can be elicited by all factors that signal the need to mobilize energy. Nor are low levels of cortisol indicative for a relaxed, healthy individual. Therefore, a more fine-grained description of cortisol patterns is warranted in order to distinguish between cortisol fluctuations associated with different stress response qualities. In most species, cortisol shows a distinct diurnal pattern. Using a reaction norm approach, cortisol levels across the day can be described by the two regression coefficients: the intercept and the slope of the curve. We measured immunor

SUBMITTER: Behringer V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8868550 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature