Washington, Aug 6 : Increased levels of a hormone-Dehydroepiandrosterone, or "DHEA" as it is commonly known- can boost a person''s performance under conditions of extreme stress, such as those regularly experienced by soldiers, police, and firefighters, a study has found.

For the study, Dr. Charles A. Morgan III and his colleagues from Yale University and the VA National Center for PTSD have worked closely with collaborators at the Special Forces Underwater Warfare Operations Center to examine special operations soldiers enrolled in the military Combat Diver Qualification Course (CDQC).

DHEA is a hormone that is secreted by the adrenal gland in response to stress.

Medical scientists already know that DHEA provides beneficial, anti-stress effects in animals, but a same effect in humans was unknown until now.

The scientists completed psychological and hormone assessments on a group of soldiers the day before they began the month-long CDQC, and immediately after their final pass/fail exam - a highly stressful, nocturnal, underwater navigation exercise.

They found that soldiers with more DHEA performed better during the final underwater navigation exam than those with less DHEA.

Underwater navigation is a task that relies on an area of the brain called the hippocampus that is very sensitive to the negative effects of stress.

"Animal studies have shown that DHEA buffers against stress, in part, by modulating receptors in this region of the brain. These findings are important in understanding why and how soldiers may differ in their ability to tolerate stress and also raise the possibility that, in the future, compounds like DHEA might be used to protect military personnel from the negative impact of operational stress," explained Morgan.

While additional research is still needed, but the findings are a step forward in the quest to help prevent or better treat the symptoms of stress-related disorders that these high-risk individuals experience.

The findings have been published in an upcoming issue of Biological Psychiatry. (ANI)