The experimental stress test that I subjected myself to is carefully controlled and deliberately designed to be an unpleasant surprise. I arrived at the university with no idea what I was in for.
First, I was asked to sit, relax and listen to white noise through a set of headphones.
So far, so calming.
Then, the researcher who was running the test invited a panel of three strangers into the room. They all stared at me silently as the researcher informed that I now had three minutes to prepare a five minute speech about my “dream job”.
As I felt the heat rise around my neck, the scientists captured my face changing colour through their thermal camera. My nose quickly dropped in temperature – turning blue on the thermal image – as I considered how to bluster my way through this unplanned presentation. (I decided I would take the opportunity to make my pitch to join the astronaut training programme!)
The Sussex researchers have carried out this same stress test on 29 volunteers. In each, they saw their nose dip in temperature by between three and six degrees.
My nose dropped in temperature by two degrees, as my nervous system pushed blood flow away from my nose and to my eyes and ears – a physical reaction to help me to look and listen for danger.
Most participants, like me, recovered quickly; their noses warmed to pre-stressed levels within a few minutes.
Lead researcher, Prof Gillian Forrester explained that being a reporter and broadcaster has probably made me “quite habituated to being put in stressful positions”.
“You are used to the camera and talking with strangers, so you’re probably quite resilient to social stressors,” she explained.
“But even someone like you, trained to be in stressful situations, shows a biological blood flow shift, so that suggests this ‘nasal dip’ is a robust marker of a changing stress state.”