Pub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-05-28DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2024.2357338
Lei Ma, Zhaoxin Wang, Xin Huang, Muxing Li, Jiajun Jiang, Wenwen Yang
Virtual reality based physical stress (VRPS) paradigms could eliminate the influence of social factors on participants, and it may be a desirable tool to explore the impact of personality traits on stress levels. In this study, we attempt to explore the effects of VRPS on stress response among individuals with different personality traits. Forty male participants with an average age of 22.79 ± 0.41 years were divided into two groups based on Harm Avoidance (HA) scores of Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), referred to as the Low-HA group and the High-HA group. The stress levels of the participants were assessed using salivary α-amylase (sAA) activity and heart rate variability (HRV) indices pre- and post-stress. The influence of personality traits on stress response among different groups was analyzed. VRPS significantly affected the sAA activity and HRV indicators of both groups. During and after stress, there were significant differences in sAA activity and HRV indicators between the two groups. The sAA levels and HRV indices of the Low-HA group were lower than those of the High-HA group. Furthermore, sAA levels and HRV indices were correlated with the scores of TPQ. VRPS scenarios elicit different stress responses on individuals with different harm avoidance personality traits. Stress evaluation based on VR scenarios presents potential in personality trait assessments, particularly for distinguishing between individuals with low and high HA tendencies.
基于虚拟现实的物理压力(VRPS)范例可以消除社会因素对参与者的影响,可能是探索人格特质对压力水平影响的理想工具。在本研究中,我们试图探讨 VRPS 对不同人格特质的人的压力反应的影响。根据三维人格问卷(TPQ)中的伤害回避(HA)得分,将 40 名平均年龄(22.79±0.41)岁的男性参与者分为两组,即低 HA 组和高 HA 组。通过唾液α-淀粉酶(sAA)活性和应激前后的心率变异性(HRV)指数来评估参与者的应激水平。研究分析了人格特质对不同群体应激反应的影响。VRPS 对两组人的 sAA 活性和心率变异性指标均有明显影响。在应激过程中和应激后,两组的 sAA 活性和心率变异指标存在明显差异。低HA组的sAA水平和心率变异指数低于高HA组。此外,sAA 水平和心率变异指数与 TPQ 评分相关。VRPS 情景会对具有不同伤害回避人格特征的个体产生不同的压力反应。基于 VR 情景的压力评估具有人格特质评估的潜力,特别是在区分低伤害倾向和高伤害倾向的个体方面。
{"title":"The impact of virtual reality scenes on stress response characteristics of individuals with different personality traits.","authors":"Lei Ma, Zhaoxin Wang, Xin Huang, Muxing Li, Jiajun Jiang, Wenwen Yang","doi":"10.1080/10253890.2024.2357338","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10253890.2024.2357338","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Virtual reality based physical stress (VRPS) paradigms could eliminate the influence of social factors on participants, and it may be a desirable tool to explore the impact of personality traits on stress levels. In this study, we attempt to explore the effects of VRPS on stress response among individuals with different personality traits. Forty male participants with an average age of 22.79 ± 0.41 years were divided into two groups based on Harm Avoidance (HA) scores of Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), referred to as the Low-HA group and the High-HA group. The stress levels of the participants were assessed using salivary α-amylase (sAA) activity and heart rate variability (HRV) indices pre- and post-stress. The influence of personality traits on stress response among different groups was analyzed. VRPS significantly affected the sAA activity and HRV indicators of both groups. During and after stress, there were significant differences in sAA activity and HRV indicators between the two groups. The sAA levels and HRV indices of the Low-HA group were lower than those of the High-HA group. Furthermore, sAA levels and HRV indices were correlated with the scores of TPQ. VRPS scenarios elicit different stress responses on individuals with different harm avoidance personality traits. Stress evaluation based on VR scenarios presents potential in personality trait assessments, particularly for distinguishing between individuals with low and high HA tendencies.</p>","PeriodicalId":51173,"journal":{"name":"Stress-The International Journal on the Biology of Stress","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141162726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-02-20DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2024.2316050
Ning Yang, Yue Wang, Xiaoxiao Luo, Gaofeng Zhan
Stress is a series of physical and psychological responses to external and internal environmental stimuli. Growing studies have demonstrated the detrimental impacts of acute restraint stress (ARS) and chronic restraint stress (CRS) on animal behavior. However, the related pathogenesis and therapeutic mechanisms remain unclear. Hence, the present study aimed to examine whether unfolded protein response (UPR) and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1)-nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway are associated with ARS- and CRS- induced abnormal behaviors of pain sensitivity and cognitive function. We here used four behavioral tests to evaluate pain sensitivity and cognitive function in ARS and CRS mice. CRS markedly decreased Paw Withdrawal Mechanical Threshold (PWMT) and Tail-flick Latency (TFL) scores, whereas ARS altered TFL but had no effect on PWMT scores. Additionally, CRS, but not ARS, significantly changed behaviors in nest building behavior and MWMT. Intriguingly, the expression of Keap1 and Nrf2 protein were decreased in the spinal cord and hippocampus in CRS mice, but not in ARS mice. Moreover, neither the ARS nor the CRS groups significantly differed from the control group in terms of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS). Taken together, this study demonstrated that CRS could induce abnormal pain sensitivity and cognitive function probably via Keap1/Nrf2 pathway in spinal cord and hippocampus. It is therefore likely that effective intervention of Keap1/Nrf2 pathway may contribute to preventing and treating hyperalgesia and cognitive dysfunction in CRS.
应激是对外部和内部环境刺激的一系列生理和心理反应。越来越多的研究表明,急性束缚应激(ARS)和慢性束缚应激(CRS)对动物行为有不利影响。然而,相关的发病机制和治疗机制仍不清楚。因此,本研究旨在探讨未折叠蛋白反应(UPR)和Kelch样ECH相关蛋白1(Keap1)-核因子红细胞2相关因子2(Nrf2)通路是否与ARS和CRS诱导的痛觉敏感性和认知功能异常行为相关。在此,我们使用四种行为测试来评估 ARS 和 CRS 小鼠的疼痛敏感性和认知功能。CRS显著降低了爪抽回机械阈值(PWMT)和弹尾延迟(TFL)评分,而ARS改变了TFL,但对PWMT评分没有影响。此外,CRS(而非 ARS)显著改变了筑巢行为和 MWMT。耐人寻味的是,CRS小鼠脊髓和海马中Keap1和Nrf2蛋白的表达减少,而ARS小鼠则没有。此外,在内质网应激(ERS)方面,ARS 组和 CRS 组与对照组均无明显差异。综上所述,本研究表明,CRS可能通过脊髓和海马的Keap1/Nrf2通路诱导疼痛敏感性和认知功能异常。因此,有效干预Keap1/Nrf2通路可能有助于预防和治疗CRS的痛觉过敏和认知功能障碍。
{"title":"Chronic restraint stress induces abnormal behaviors in pain sensitivity and cognitive function in mice: the role of Keap1/Nrf2 pathway.","authors":"Ning Yang, Yue Wang, Xiaoxiao Luo, Gaofeng Zhan","doi":"10.1080/10253890.2024.2316050","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10253890.2024.2316050","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Stress is a series of physical and psychological responses to external and internal environmental stimuli. Growing studies have demonstrated the detrimental impacts of acute restraint stress (ARS) and chronic restraint stress (CRS) on animal behavior. However, the related pathogenesis and therapeutic mechanisms remain unclear. Hence, the present study aimed to examine whether unfolded protein response (UPR) and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1)-nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway are associated with ARS- and CRS- induced abnormal behaviors of pain sensitivity and cognitive function. We here used four behavioral tests to evaluate pain sensitivity and cognitive function in ARS and CRS mice. CRS markedly decreased Paw Withdrawal Mechanical Threshold (PWMT) and Tail-flick Latency (TFL) scores, whereas ARS altered TFL but had no effect on PWMT scores. Additionally, CRS, but not ARS, significantly changed behaviors in nest building behavior and MWMT. Intriguingly, the expression of Keap1 and Nrf2 protein were decreased in the spinal cord and hippocampus in CRS mice, but not in ARS mice. Moreover, neither the ARS nor the CRS groups significantly differed from the control group in terms of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS). Taken together, this study demonstrated that CRS could induce abnormal pain sensitivity and cognitive function probably via Keap1/Nrf2 pathway in spinal cord and hippocampus. It is therefore likely that effective intervention of Keap1/Nrf2 pathway may contribute to preventing and treating hyperalgesia and cognitive dysfunction in CRS.</p>","PeriodicalId":51173,"journal":{"name":"Stress-The International Journal on the Biology of Stress","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139913975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-05-22DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2024.2357330
Karissa N Gautier, Samantha L Higley, John M Mendoza, Kathleen E Morrison
Why individuals suffer negative consequences following stress is a complex phenomenon that is dictated by individual factors, the timing of stress within the lifespan, and when in the lifespan the consequences are measured. Women who undergo adverse childhood experiences are at risk for lasting biological consequences, including affective and stress dysregulation. We have shown that pubertal adversity is associated with a blunted hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis glucocorticoid response in peripartum humans and mice. In mice, our prior examination of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus showed that pubertal stress led to an upregulation of baseline mRNA expression of six immediate early genes (IEGs) in the PVN of adult, pregnant mice. Separately, we showed that the pregnancy-associated hormone allopregnanolone is necessary and sufficient to produce the blunted stress response phenotype in pubertally stressed mice. In the current study, we further examined a potential mechanistic role for the IEGs in the PVN. We found that in pubertally stressed adult female, but not male, mice, intra-PVN allopregnanolone was sufficient to recapitulate the baseline IEG mRNA expression profile previously observed in pubertally stressed, pregnant mice. We also examined baseline IEG mRNA expression during adolescence, where we found that IEGs have developmental trajectories that showed sex-specific disruption by pubertal stress. Altogether, these data establish that IEGs may act as a key molecular switch involved in increased vulnerability to negative outcomes in adult, pubertally stressed animals. How the factors that produce vulnerability combine throughout the lifespan is key to our understanding of the etiology of stress-related disorders.
{"title":"The impact of pubertal stress and adult hormone exposure on the transcriptome of the developing hypothalamus.","authors":"Karissa N Gautier, Samantha L Higley, John M Mendoza, Kathleen E Morrison","doi":"10.1080/10253890.2024.2357330","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10253890.2024.2357330","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Why individuals suffer negative consequences following stress is a complex phenomenon that is dictated by individual factors, the timing of stress within the lifespan, and when in the lifespan the consequences are measured. Women who undergo adverse childhood experiences are at risk for lasting biological consequences, including affective and stress dysregulation. We have shown that pubertal adversity is associated with a blunted hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis glucocorticoid response in peripartum humans and mice. In mice, our prior examination of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus showed that pubertal stress led to an upregulation of baseline mRNA expression of six immediate early genes (IEGs) in the PVN of adult, pregnant mice. Separately, we showed that the pregnancy-associated hormone allopregnanolone is necessary and sufficient to produce the blunted stress response phenotype in pubertally stressed mice. In the current study, we further examined a potential mechanistic role for the IEGs in the PVN. We found that in pubertally stressed adult female, but not male, mice, intra-PVN allopregnanolone was sufficient to recapitulate the baseline IEG mRNA expression profile previously observed in pubertally stressed, pregnant mice. We also examined baseline IEG mRNA expression during adolescence, where we found that IEGs have developmental trajectories that showed sex-specific disruption by pubertal stress. Altogether, these data establish that IEGs may act as a key molecular switch involved in increased vulnerability to negative outcomes in adult, pubertally stressed animals. How the factors that produce vulnerability combine throughout the lifespan is key to our understanding of the etiology of stress-related disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":51173,"journal":{"name":"Stress-The International Journal on the Biology of Stress","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11323331/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141076474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2023-12-22DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2023.2294954
Adrianne Rahde Bischoff, Roberta Dalle Molle, Amanda Brondani Mucellini, Irina Pokhvisneva, Robert D Levitan, Michael J Meaney, Patrícia P Silveira
Prenatal adversity is associated with behavioral obesogenic features such as preference for palatable foods. Salt appetite may play a role in the development of adiposity and its consequences in individuals exposed to prenatal adversity, and sodium consumption involves individual differences in accumbal µ-opioid receptors function. We investigated the hedonic responses to salt and the levels of µ-opioid receptors and tyrosine hydroxylase in the nucleus accumbens (Nacc) of pups from an animal model of prenatal dietary restriction. In children, we evaluated the interaction between fetal growth and the genetic background associated with the accumbal µ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) expression on sodium consumption during a snack test. Sprague-Dawley dams were randomly allocated from pregnancy day 10 to receive an ad libitum (Adlib) or a 50% restricted (FR) diet. The pups' hedonic responses to a salt solution (NaCl 2%) or water were evaluated on the first day of life. FR and Adlib pups differ in their hedonic responses to salt, and there were decreased levels of accumbal µ-opioid and p-µ-opioid receptors in FR pups. In humans, a test meal and genotyping from buccal epithelial cells were performed in 270 children (38 intrauterine growth restricted-IUGR) at 4 years old from a Canadian prospective cohort (MAVAN). The OPRM1 genetic score predicted the sodium intake in IUGR children, but not in controls. The identification of mechanisms involved in the brain response to prenatal adversity and its consequences in behavioral phenotypes and risk for chronic diseases later in life is important for preventive and therapeutic purposes.
{"title":"Accumbal μ-opioid receptors and salt taste-elicited hedonic responses in a rodent model of prenatal adversity, and their correlates using human functional genomics.","authors":"Adrianne Rahde Bischoff, Roberta Dalle Molle, Amanda Brondani Mucellini, Irina Pokhvisneva, Robert D Levitan, Michael J Meaney, Patrícia P Silveira","doi":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2294954","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2294954","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Prenatal adversity is associated with behavioral obesogenic features such as preference for palatable foods. Salt appetite may play a role in the development of adiposity and its consequences in individuals exposed to prenatal adversity, and sodium consumption involves individual differences in accumbal µ-opioid receptors function. We investigated the hedonic responses to salt and the levels of µ-opioid receptors and tyrosine hydroxylase in the nucleus accumbens (Nacc) of pups from an animal model of prenatal dietary restriction. In children, we evaluated the interaction between fetal growth and the genetic background associated with the accumbal µ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) expression on sodium consumption during a snack test. Sprague-Dawley dams were randomly allocated from pregnancy day 10 to receive an <i>ad libitum</i> (Adlib) or a 50% restricted (FR) diet. The pups' hedonic responses to a salt solution (NaCl 2%) or water were evaluated on the first day of life. FR and Adlib pups differ in their hedonic responses to salt, and there were decreased levels of accumbal µ-opioid and p-µ-opioid receptors in FR pups. In humans, a test meal and genotyping from buccal epithelial cells were performed in 270 children (38 intrauterine growth restricted-IUGR) at 4 years old from a Canadian prospective cohort (MAVAN). The OPRM1 genetic score predicted the sodium intake in IUGR children, but not in controls. The identification of mechanisms involved in the brain response to prenatal adversity and its consequences in behavioral phenotypes and risk for chronic diseases later in life is important for preventive and therapeutic purposes.</p>","PeriodicalId":51173,"journal":{"name":"Stress-The International Journal on the Biology of Stress","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138886581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-01Epub Date: 2024-01-05DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2023.2299971
A J Wegener, M M Hyer, I Targett, A Kloster, G A Shaw, A M M Rodriguez, S K Dyer, G N Neigh
Early life adversity and chronic inflammation have both been associated with cognitive impairment and neural compromise. In this study, we investigated the interactions between a history of chronic adolescent stress (CAS) and repeated endotoxin exposure on behavior, synaptic mitochondria, and microglia in adult male and female Wistar rats. Adult rats from chronic stress and control conditions were exposed to either repeated endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide; LPS) or saline injections every 3 days for 9 weeks. In both sexes, repeated LPS, regardless of stress history, impaired working memory in the Y maze. Regarding spatial memory, LPS impaired function for females; whereas, CAS altered function in males. Although males had an increase in anxiety-like behavior shortly after CAS, there were no long-term effects on anxiety-like behavior or social interaction observed in males or females. Stress did not alter synaptic mitochondrial function in either sex. Repeated LPS altered synaptic mitochondrial function such that ATP production was increased in females only. There were no observed increases in IBA-1 positive cells within the hippocampus for either sex. However, LPS and CAS altered microglia morphology in females. Impact of repeated LPS was evident at the terminal endpoint with increased spleen weight in both sexes and decreased adrenal weight in males only. Circulating cytokines were not impacted by repeated LPS at the terminal endpoint, but evidence of CAS effects on cytokines in females were evident. These data suggest a long-term impact of chronic stress and an impact of repeated endotoxin challenge in adulthood; however, not all physiological and behavioral metrics examined were impacted by the paradigm employed in this study and the two environmental challenges rarely interacted.
早期生活逆境和慢性炎症都与认知障碍和神经损伤有关。在这项研究中,我们调查了慢性青春期应激史(CAS)和重复内毒素暴露对成年雄性和雌性Wistar大鼠的行为、突触线粒体和小胶质细胞的相互作用。在连续9周的时间里,每3天重复注射内毒素(脂多糖;LPS)或生理盐水。在雌雄大鼠中,无论应激史如何,重复注射 LPS 都会损害 Y 迷宫中的工作记忆。在空间记忆方面,LPS损害了雌性的功能;而CAS改变了雄性的功能。虽然雄性动物在 CAS 后不久焦虑样行为会增加,但在雄性或雌性动物中均未观察到对焦虑样行为或社会互动的长期影响。压力不会改变雌雄动物的突触线粒体功能。重复的 LPS 改变了突触线粒体功能,因此只有雌性的 ATP 产量增加。在海马中,没有观察到任何一种性别的 IBA-1 阳性细胞增加。然而,LPS 和 CAS 改变了雌性小胶质细胞的形态。重复 LPS 的影响在终点时很明显,雌雄动物的脾脏重量都有所增加,只有雄性动物的肾上腺重量有所减少。循环细胞因子在终点时没有受到重复 LPS 的影响,但 CAS 对雌性细胞因子的影响是显而易见的。这些数据表明,慢性应激和成年期反复内毒素挑战会产生长期影响;不过,并非所有生理和行为指标都会受到本研究采用的范式的影响,而且这两种环境挑战很少相互作用。
{"title":"Behavior, synaptic mitochondria, and microglia are differentially impacted by chronic adolescent stress and repeated endotoxin exposure in male and female rats.","authors":"A J Wegener, M M Hyer, I Targett, A Kloster, G A Shaw, A M M Rodriguez, S K Dyer, G N Neigh","doi":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2299971","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2299971","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Early life adversity and chronic inflammation have both been associated with cognitive impairment and neural compromise. In this study, we investigated the interactions between a history of chronic adolescent stress (CAS) and repeated endotoxin exposure on behavior, synaptic mitochondria, and microglia in adult male and female Wistar rats. Adult rats from chronic stress and control conditions were exposed to either repeated endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide; LPS) or saline injections every 3 days for 9 weeks. In both sexes, repeated LPS, regardless of stress history, impaired working memory in the Y maze. Regarding spatial memory, LPS impaired function for females; whereas, CAS altered function in males. Although males had an increase in anxiety-like behavior shortly after CAS, there were no long-term effects on anxiety-like behavior or social interaction observed in males or females. Stress did not alter synaptic mitochondrial function in either sex. Repeated LPS altered synaptic mitochondrial function such that ATP production was increased in females only. There were no observed increases in IBA-1 positive cells within the hippocampus for either sex. However, LPS and CAS altered microglia morphology in females. Impact of repeated LPS was evident at the terminal endpoint with increased spleen weight in both sexes and decreased adrenal weight in males only. Circulating cytokines were not impacted by repeated LPS at the terminal endpoint, but evidence of CAS effects on cytokines in females were evident. These data suggest a long-term impact of chronic stress and an impact of repeated endotoxin challenge in adulthood; however, not all physiological and behavioral metrics examined were impacted by the paradigm employed in this study and the two environmental challenges rarely interacted.</p>","PeriodicalId":51173,"journal":{"name":"Stress-The International Journal on the Biology of Stress","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11064104/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139099191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-01DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2023.2244598
Gabriela Manzano Nieves, Marilyn Bravo, Kevin G Bath
Early life adversity (ELA) heightens the risk for anxiety disorders (which are characterized by heightened fear and avoidance behaviors), with females being twice as likely as males to develop pathology. Pavlovian fear conditioning tasks have been used to study possible mechanisms supporting endophenotypes of pathology. Identification of sex and ELA selective effects on the nature of behavioral responding in these paradigms may provide a unique window into coping strategies in response to learned fear to guide more mechanistic studies. The goals of this study were two-fold; First, to test if male and female mice employed different coping strategies in response to threat learning using different conditioning parameters (low, medium, and high intensity foot shocks). Second, to test if ELA in the form of limited bedding and nesting (LBN) altered the behavioral response of mice to conditioning. Mice received 6 tone/foot-shock pairings at one of three different foot-shock intensities (0.35 mA; 0.57 mA; 0.7 mA). Freezing, darting, and foot-shock reactivity were measured across trials. During conditioning, control-reared female mice exhibited significantly higher rates of darting behavior compared to control males at nearly all shock intensities tested. LBN rearing decreased the proportion of darting females to levels observed in males. Thus, ELA in the form of LBN significantly diminished the recruitment of active versus passive coping strategies in female mice but did not generally change male responding. Additional work will be required to understand the neural basis of these behavioral effects. Findings extending from this work have the potential to shed light on how ELA impacts trajectories of regional brain development with implications for sex-selective risk for behavioral endophenotypes associated with pathology and possibly symptom presentation.
{"title":"Early life adversity ablates sex differences in active versus passive threat responding in mice.","authors":"Gabriela Manzano Nieves, Marilyn Bravo, Kevin G Bath","doi":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2244598","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2244598","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Early life adversity (ELA) heightens the risk for anxiety disorders (which are characterized by heightened fear and avoidance behaviors), with females being twice as likely as males to develop pathology. Pavlovian fear conditioning tasks have been used to study possible mechanisms supporting endophenotypes of pathology. Identification of sex and ELA selective effects on the nature of behavioral responding in these paradigms may provide a unique window into coping strategies in response to learned fear to guide more mechanistic studies. The goals of this study were two-fold; First, to test if male and female mice employed different coping strategies in response to threat learning using different conditioning parameters (low, medium, and high intensity foot shocks). Second, to test if ELA in the form of limited bedding and nesting (LBN) altered the behavioral response of mice to conditioning. Mice received 6 tone/foot-shock pairings at one of three different foot-shock intensities (0.35 mA; 0.57 mA; 0.7 mA). Freezing, darting, and foot-shock reactivity were measured across trials. During conditioning, control-reared female mice exhibited significantly higher rates of darting behavior compared to control males at nearly all shock intensities tested. LBN rearing decreased the proportion of darting females to levels observed in males. Thus, ELA in the form of LBN significantly diminished the recruitment of active versus passive coping strategies in female mice but did not generally change male responding. Additional work will be required to understand the neural basis of these behavioral effects. Findings extending from this work have the potential to shed light on how ELA impacts trajectories of regional brain development with implications for sex-selective risk for behavioral endophenotypes associated with pathology and possibly symptom presentation.</p>","PeriodicalId":51173,"journal":{"name":"Stress-The International Journal on the Biology of Stress","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10529224/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10630954","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-01Epub Date: 2023-10-07DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2023.2265160
Roger G Marchon, Bianca M Gregório, Marco A Pereira-Sampaio, Waldemar S Costa, Francisco J Sampaio, Diogo B De Souza
Objectives: To investigate the effects of chronic stress on bladder morphology and the impact of food preference (standard or comfort foods) on the bladder of stressed rats.
Methods: In total, 32 Wistar male rats (3 months old) were divided into four groups: control (C), stressed (S), control + comfort food (C + CF), and stressed + comfort food (S + CF). Groups C and C + CF were maintained under normal conditions, while groups S and S + CF were subjected to chronic stress by the restraint method. Groups C and S received standard rat chow, while groups C + CF and S + CF received comfort food (Froot Loops®) and standard chow. The stress stimuli were induced daily for 2 h over 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, all animals were killed, and the bladders were removed and used for histomorphometric analysis.
Results: Body mass was similar among the groups. Stress did not promote differences regarding food intake, but animals receiving comfort food showed higher calories intake (in kcal/Kg) than animals receiving only standard chow. The C + CF and S + CF groups preferred comfort food over the standard chow; this preference was higher in the S + CF than in the C + CF group. The surface density of smooth muscle was reduced in stressed animals, while connective tissue and elastic system fiber content were increased in stressed groups. Further, epithelial height was increased in rats submitted to chronic stress. The surface density of elastic system fibers was decreased by the consumption of comfort food.
Conclusions: Chronic stress induces morphological modifications on the bladder wall and epithelium. These modifications may be related to lower urinary tract symptoms. Additionally, chronic stress caused a higher preference for comfort food intake which did not ameliorate or aggravate the stress-induced bladder alterations.
{"title":"Effects of chronic stress on bladder morphology of rats and impact of comfort food diet as an ameliorating agent.","authors":"Roger G Marchon, Bianca M Gregório, Marco A Pereira-Sampaio, Waldemar S Costa, Francisco J Sampaio, Diogo B De Souza","doi":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2265160","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2265160","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To investigate the effects of chronic stress on bladder morphology and the impact of food preference (standard or comfort foods) on the bladder of stressed rats.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In total, 32 Wistar male rats (3 months old) were divided into four groups: control (C), stressed (S), control + comfort food (C + CF), and stressed + comfort food (S + CF). Groups C and C + CF were maintained under normal conditions, while groups S and S + CF were subjected to chronic stress by the restraint method. Groups C and S received standard rat chow, while groups C + CF and S + CF received comfort food (Froot Loops®) and standard chow. The stress stimuli were induced daily for 2 h over 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, all animals were killed, and the bladders were removed and used for histomorphometric analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Body mass was similar among the groups. Stress did not promote differences regarding food intake, but animals receiving comfort food showed higher calories intake (in kcal/Kg) than animals receiving only standard chow. The C + CF and S + CF groups preferred comfort food over the standard chow; this preference was higher in the S + CF than in the C + CF group. The surface density of smooth muscle was reduced in stressed animals, while connective tissue and elastic system fiber content were increased in stressed groups. Further, epithelial height was increased in rats submitted to chronic stress. The surface density of elastic system fibers was decreased by the consumption of comfort food.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Chronic stress induces morphological modifications on the bladder wall and epithelium. These modifications may be related to lower urinary tract symptoms. Additionally, chronic stress caused a higher preference for comfort food intake which did not ameliorate or aggravate the stress-induced bladder alterations.</p>","PeriodicalId":51173,"journal":{"name":"Stress-The International Journal on the Biology of Stress","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41156688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-01Epub Date: 2023-11-27DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2023.2283435
Nicole Andelic, Julia Allan, Keith A Bender, Daniel Powell, Ioannis Theodossiou
There is some evidence that performance-related pay (PRP) leads to higher levels of stress as it incentivizes employees to work harder for longer. However, PRP in the workplace also typically involves performance monitoring, which may introduce an additional source of stress via social-evaluative threat (SET). The current study examined the effect of PRP on stress while varying the level of performance monitoring/SET. Using an incentivized mixed design experiment, 206 participants completed a simulated work task after being randomly allocated to either a PRP contract (£0.20 per correct response, n = 110) or minimum-performance fixed payment contract (£5 for ≥10 correct responses; £0 for <10, n = 96) condition. All participants completed the task during a high SET (explicit performance monitoring) and low SET (no monitoring) condition. Subjective and objective stress were measured through self-report and salivary cortisol. High SET led to higher levels of self-reported stress but not cortisol, whereas there was no effect of the payment condition on either self-reported stress or cortisol. A statistically significant interaction revealed that high SET-fixed payment participants were significantly more stressed than those in the high SET-PRP group. Estimating the regressions separately for high- and low-performing individuals found that the effect was driven by low-performing individuals. These results suggest that fixed payment contracts that have a minimum performance threshold and which include performance monitoring and SET can be more stressful than traditional piece-rate PRP contracts. The current study suggests that incorporating performance monitoring and SET into payment contracts may affect the well-being of employees.
{"title":"Stress in performance-related pay: the effect of payment contracts and social-evaluative threat.","authors":"Nicole Andelic, Julia Allan, Keith A Bender, Daniel Powell, Ioannis Theodossiou","doi":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2283435","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2283435","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is some evidence that performance-related pay (PRP) leads to higher levels of stress as it incentivizes employees to work harder for longer. However, PRP in the workplace also typically involves performance monitoring, which may introduce an additional source of stress via social-evaluative threat (SET). The current study examined the effect of PRP on stress while varying the level of performance monitoring/SET. Using an incentivized mixed design experiment, 206 participants completed a simulated work task after being randomly allocated to either a PRP contract (£0.20 per correct response, <i>n</i> = 110) or minimum-performance fixed payment contract (£5 for ≥10 correct responses; £0 for <10, <i>n</i> = 96) condition. All participants completed the task during a high SET (explicit performance monitoring) and low SET (no monitoring) condition. Subjective and objective stress were measured through self-report and salivary cortisol. High SET led to higher levels of self-reported stress but not cortisol, whereas there was no effect of the payment condition on either self-reported stress or cortisol. A statistically significant interaction revealed that high SET-fixed payment participants were significantly more stressed than those in the high SET-PRP group. Estimating the regressions separately for high- and low-performing individuals found that the effect was driven by low-performing individuals. These results suggest that fixed payment contracts that have a minimum performance threshold and which include performance monitoring and SET can be more stressful than traditional piece-rate PRP contracts. The current study suggests that incorporating performance monitoring and SET into payment contracts may affect the well-being of employees.</p>","PeriodicalId":51173,"journal":{"name":"Stress-The International Journal on the Biology of Stress","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"107592754","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-01Epub Date: 2023-11-05DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2023.2278315
J Alex Grizzell, Maryam Vanbaelinghem, Jessica Westerman, Michael P Saddoris
Alcohol use during adolescence coincides with elevated risks of stress-related impairment in adults, particularly via disrupted developmental trajectories of vulnerable corticolimbic and mesolimbic systems involved in fear processing. Prior work has investigated the impact of binge-like alcohol consumption on adult fear and stress, but less is known about whether voluntarily consumed alcohol imparts differential effects based on adolescence phases and biological sex. Here, adolescent male and female Long Evans rats were granted daily access to alcohol (15%) during either early (Early-EtOH; P25-45) or late adolescence (Late-EtOH; P45-55) using a modified drinking-in-the-dark design. Upon adulthood (P75-80), rats were exposed to a three-context (ABC) fear renewal procedure. We found that male and female Early-EtOH rats showed faster acquisition of fear but less freezing during early phases of extinction and throughout fear renewal. In the extinction period specifically, Early-EtOH rats showed normal levels of freezing in the presence of fear-associated cues, but abnormally low freezing immediately after cue offset, suggesting a key disruption in contextual processing and/or novelty seeking brought by early adolescent binge consumption. While the effects of alcohol were most pronounced in the Early-EtOH rats (particularly in females), Late-EtOH rats displayed some changes in fear behavior including slower fear acquisition, faster extinction, and reduced renewal compared with controls, but primarily in males. Our results suggest that early adolescence in males and females and, to a lesser extent, late adolescence in males is a particularly vulnerable period wherein alcohol use can promote stress-related dysfunction in adulthood. Furthermore, our results provide multiple bases for future research focused on developmental correlates of alcohol mediated disruption in the brain.
{"title":"Voluntary alcohol consumption during distinct phases of adolescence differentially alters adult fear acquisition, extinction and renewal in male and female rats.","authors":"J Alex Grizzell, Maryam Vanbaelinghem, Jessica Westerman, Michael P Saddoris","doi":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2278315","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2278315","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Alcohol use during adolescence coincides with elevated risks of stress-related impairment in adults, particularly via disrupted developmental trajectories of vulnerable corticolimbic and mesolimbic systems involved in fear processing. Prior work has investigated the impact of binge-like alcohol consumption on adult fear and stress, but less is known about whether voluntarily consumed alcohol imparts differential effects based on adolescence phases and biological sex. Here, adolescent male and female Long Evans rats were granted daily access to alcohol (15%) during either early (Early-EtOH; P25-45) or late adolescence (Late-EtOH; P45-55) using a modified drinking-in-the-dark design. Upon adulthood (P75-80), rats were exposed to a three-context (ABC) fear renewal procedure. We found that male and female Early-EtOH rats showed faster acquisition of fear but less freezing during early phases of extinction and throughout fear renewal. In the extinction period specifically, Early-EtOH rats showed normal levels of freezing in the presence of fear-associated cues, but abnormally low freezing immediately after cue offset, suggesting a key disruption in contextual processing and/or novelty seeking brought by early adolescent binge consumption. While the effects of alcohol were most pronounced in the Early-EtOH rats (particularly in females), Late-EtOH rats displayed some changes in fear behavior including slower fear acquisition, faster extinction, and reduced renewal compared with controls, but primarily in males. Our results suggest that early adolescence in males and females and, to a lesser extent, late adolescence in males is a particularly vulnerable period wherein alcohol use can promote stress-related dysfunction in adulthood. Furthermore, our results provide multiple bases for future research focused on developmental correlates of alcohol mediated disruption in the brain.</p>","PeriodicalId":51173,"journal":{"name":"Stress-The International Journal on the Biology of Stress","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11042498/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71428945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-01Epub Date: 2023-09-28DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2023.2247102
Nilab Nasrullah, B Khorashad Sorouri, Anton Lundmark, Rene Seiger, Ivanka Savic
Background: Despite the rapid increase in reports of exhaustion syndrome (ES) due to daily occupational stress, the mechanisms underlying ES are unknown. In the present study, we investigated whether occupational ES is associated with specific modifications of the subfields of the amygdala and hippocampus resembling those described in other chronic stress conditions. Special focus was paid to possible sex differences.Methods: As a follow up to our previous studies of occupational ES, we carried out MRI-based subfield segmentation of the hippocampus and amygdala volumes in 58 patients with occupational ES (22 males) and 65 age-matched controls (27 males) (age range 30-46 years).Results: There was a significant and bilateral enlargement of the lateral, basal and central nucleus of the amygdala in patients with ES (corrected for the total intracranial volume (ICV)). These differences were detected only in females. Higher values in the right central and right basal amygdala remained when the whole amygdala volume was used as reference, instead of the ICV. Notably, in female patients the volumes of these specific nuclei were positively correlated with the degree of perceived stress. No changes in the hippocampus subfields were detected in female or male patients.Conclusions: The findings underline that ES is a chronic stress condition, suggesting that not only extreme forms of stress, but also the everyday stress is associated with localized differences from controls in the amygdala. The absence of significant alterations among men with ES despite a similar degree of perceived stress supports the notion that women seem more susceptible to stress-related cerebral changes, and may explain the higher prevalence of ES among women.
{"title":"Occupational stress is associated with sex and subregion specific modifications of the amygdala volumes.","authors":"Nilab Nasrullah, B Khorashad Sorouri, Anton Lundmark, Rene Seiger, Ivanka Savic","doi":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2247102","DOIUrl":"10.1080/10253890.2023.2247102","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Background:</b> Despite the rapid increase in reports of exhaustion syndrome (ES) due to daily occupational stress, the mechanisms underlying ES are unknown. In the present study, we investigated whether occupational ES is associated with specific modifications of the subfields of the amygdala and hippocampus resembling those described in other chronic stress conditions. Special focus was paid to possible sex differences.<b>Methods:</b> As a follow up to our previous studies of occupational ES, we carried out MRI-based subfield segmentation of the hippocampus and amygdala volumes in 58 patients with occupational ES (22 males) and 65 age-matched controls (27 males) (age range 30-46 years).<b>Results:</b> There was a significant and bilateral enlargement of the lateral, basal and central nucleus of the amygdala in patients with ES (corrected for the total intracranial volume (ICV)). These differences were detected only in females. Higher values in the right central and right basal amygdala remained when the whole amygdala volume was used as reference, instead of the ICV. Notably, in female patients the volumes of these specific nuclei were positively correlated with the degree of perceived stress. No changes in the hippocampus subfields were detected in female or male patients.<b>Conclusions:</b> The findings underline that ES is a chronic stress condition, suggesting that not only extreme forms of stress, but also the everyday stress is associated with localized differences from controls in the amygdala. The absence of significant alterations among men with ES despite a similar degree of perceived stress supports the notion that women seem more susceptible to stress-related cerebral changes, and may explain the higher prevalence of ES among women.</p>","PeriodicalId":51173,"journal":{"name":"Stress-The International Journal on the Biology of Stress","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41158846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}