Abstract: Acute psychosocial stress is thought to induce neuroendocrine response by hypothalamus- pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) and sympathetic-adrenal medulla axis separately. Salivary cortisol is a stable indicator of HPAA activity response to acute psychosocial stress. This article focuses on studies which have employed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) or its modified version for stimulation of HPAA and discusses the role of various mediators (e.g., demographic factors, biological factors, and training) of the acute specificity stress response to psychosocial stress. Authors proposed that neuroendocrine responses to acute psychosocial stress await longitudinal studies.

Key words: acute psychosocial stress, Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), specificity neuroendocrine response, hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA)