Figure 1.

Timing of experimental procedures. Study participation entailed two experimental sessions, which were typically separated by 1 week (minimum of 5 days). All experimental sessions were conducted late in the day (beginning at 4:15 PM) when endogenous cortisol levels are relatively low. Drug (20 mg oral hydrocortisone [CORT] or placebo) was administered slightly after 5PM. Order of drug administration across the two sessions was randomized and double-blinded. Approximately 90 min after drug administration, participants viewed emotional pictures during fMRI (described elsewhere; Abercrombie et al., 2018). Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) was collected immediately after the emotional picture viewing task to index sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity during CORT vs. placebo. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was conducted to assess white matter structure.