Stress hormone may cloud gut instincts, study suggests

This study investigates whether acute psychosocial stress and the stress hormone cortisol alter the gut feelings that guide decision-making. Healthy young adults are randomly assigned to a stressful or control condition, then play a gambling task that measures risky versus safe choices. Saliva samples and skin sensors track stress responses and emotional signals. The goal is to understand how stress might cloud intuition and lead to riskier decisions.