Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Megan R. Gunnar, Brie M. Reid, Bonny Donzella, Zachary R. Miller, Samantha Gardow, Nikola C. Tsakonas, Kathleen M. Thomas, Meriah DeJoseph, Jason Jose Bendezu
Summary: The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is a widely used protocol for activating stress responses, but the COVID-19 pandemic has made in-person assessments difficult. This study validated a completely remote, online version of the TSST for children, showing that it is consistent with in-person responses and can effectively assess reactivity of the HPA axis and other stress systems in a remote environment.
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Jana Strahler, Ramona Wurst, Reinhard Fuchs, Kathrin Wunsch
Summary: This study investigated the effects of healthy diet and regular exercise on psychobiological stress levels among an all-male sample. Results showed that regular exercise can buffer stress response, while higher diet quality is associated with greater cortisol recovery. However, the interaction between diet and exercise did not have consistent effects.
STRESS-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON THE BIOLOGY OF STRESS
(2021)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
V Bonapersona, F. J. Born, P. Bakvis, S. Branje, B. Elzinga, A. W. M. Evers, M. van Eysden, G. Fernandez, P. C. Habets, C. A. Hartman, E. J. Hermans, W. Meeus, H. van Middendorp, S. Nelemans, N. Y. Oei, A. J. Oldehinkel, K. Roelofs, S. R. de Rooij, T. Smeets, M. S. Tollenaar, M. Joels, C. H. Vinkers
Summary: Stress initiates (neuro)biological, physiological, and behavioral changes that allow us to respond to challenging environments. A database called STRESS-NL has been established in the Netherlands to combine and analyze data from various acute stress studies, aiming to accelerate our understanding of human acute stress response in both health and disease. This database provides a framework for explorative and hypothesis-driven data analyses in stress research, with high statistical power.
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Mathematical
Jenny T. Le, Poppy Watson, Denovan Begg, Lucy Albertella, Mike E. Le Pelley
Summary: The Simple Singing Stress Procedure (SSSP) has been found to be effective in inducing stress in participants, leading to physiological and psychological changes that are consistent with stress responses. This novel stress induction procedure shows promise as an alternative to existing protocols for studying stress.
BEHAVIOR RESEARCH METHODS
(2021)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Alessandra R. Grillo, Gail M. Corneau, Suzanne Vrshek-Schallhorn
Summary: This study developed an observer-rated measure of behavioral engagement and examined its relationship with psychosocial stress. The results showed that the relationship between positive affect and biomarker levels varied depending on the context, especially negative evaluation.
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Qian Liu, Jianhui Wu, Liang Zhang, Xiaofang Sun, Qing Guan, Zhuxi Yao
Summary: This study found that, for the same level of stress, the subjective perceived level of control in young adults can influence the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Maria Meier, Lisa Wirz, Philip Dickinson, Jens C. Pruessner
Summary: Stress is a major contributor to psychiatric diseases, and laughter yoga may help buffer the negative effects of stress. However, empirical evidence for beneficial effects of laughter yoga is still lacking.
STRESS-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON THE BIOLOGY OF STRESS
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Hagar Azulay, Nitzan Guy, Yoni Pertzov, Salomon Israel
Summary: Research on the effects of acute stress on social decision-making has found that acute stress can lead to seemingly contradictory egocentric or prosocial behaviors. Individual differences in trait empathy may moderate the impact of stress on behavior, with high empathetic individuals exhibiting more generous behavior under stress, while low empathy individuals display more selfish behaviors.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Jeong Ha (Steph) Choi, Calvin D. O'Donnel, Vivian N. Phan, Christopher L. Coe, Yuri Miyamoto
Summary: How people perceive and value negative affective states is associated with physiological responses to stressful events and moderates the association between negative feelings and physiological and behavioral outcomes. Different cultural backgrounds shape how people view negative emotions and how people attend to internal emotional states, which may change the effects of valuing negative emotions. The present study examined whether valuation of nervousness was associated with cortisol responses to a stressor and task performance in East Asian and European American students. Valuing nervousness was associated with lower cortisol reactivity and better speech performance, and the strength of this association was moderated by cortisol level. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the valuation of negative emotions and cultural context in responding to demanding and threatening situations.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Giammarco Cascino, Valeria Ruzzi, Giulia D'Agostino, Eugenia Barone, Chiara Del Giorno, Palmiero Monteleone, Alessio Maria Monteleone
Summary: The fine-tuning of the endogenous stress response system is influenced by early attachment relationships, with a higher prevalence of insecure attachment in individuals with eating disorders (EDs). This study investigated the emotional and SNS reactivity to the TSST in women with EDs in relation to their attachment profiles. The findings suggest that adult attachment may be associated with variability in emotional and biological responses to a psychosocial stressor in women with EDs.
JOURNAL OF PSYCHOSOMATIC RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ioan Gotca, Andrada Druica, Daniel V. Timofte, Cristina Preda, Dana-Teodora Anton-Paduraru, Cristina Mihaela Ghiciuc, Maria Christina Ungureanu, Letitia Leustean, Veronica Mocanu
Summary: The study found significant differences in cortisol response between genders in adolescents, with girls being more likely to be hyperreactive. In overweight adolescents, boys had lower cortisol reactivity while girls had higher reactivity. Overweight hyperreactive adolescents showed a higher frequency of consuming sweets and soft drinks daily compared to their hyporeactive counterparts.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Experimental
Ethan R. Fischer, Cosette Fox, K. Lira Yoon
Summary: Individuals with high levels of growth mindsets believe that attributes are malleable. However, the links between acute stress responses and growth mindsets have yet to be examined. This study found that higher growth mindset of behavior was associated with lower cortisol levels in men, but not in women.
COGNITION & EMOTION
(2023)
Article
Psychiatry
Sarah Herzog, Hanga Galfalvy, John G. Keilp, J. John Mann, M. Elizabeth Sublette, Ainsley Burke, Maria A. Oquendo, Barbara H. Stanley
Summary: Higher intent suicide attempts are associated with an increased risk of future suicidal behavior. Dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is linked to both nonfatal suicidal behavior and suicide deaths in major depressive disorder. However, few studies have identified biological markers for a high-intent suicidal subgroup.
PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Social
Javier I. Borraz-Leon, Nora Nickels McLean, JohnMichael Jurgensen, Dario Maestripieri
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between impulsivity, cortisol, and testosterone in a mixed-sex sample of college students. The results showed positive correlations between impulsivity and testosterone levels, and a negative correlation between impulsivity and cortisol changes. Sex differences were observed in the association between steroid hormones and impulsivity, as well as in the effects of impulsivity dimensions on cortisol and testosterone levels.
PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Javier I. Borraz-Leon, Alena Spreitzer, Coltan Scrivner, Mitchell Landers, Royce Lee, Dario Maestripieri
Summary: This study aimed to compare cortisol and emotional responses to psychosocial stress between individuals with high scores of vulnerable and grandiose narcissism. The results showed that individuals with higher scores of vulnerable narcissism exhibited stronger cortisol and emotional responses. Vulnerable narcissism was positively correlated with schizotypal traits, while grandiose narcissism was positively correlated with psychopathic traits.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Milou S. C. Sep, Marian Joels, Elbert Geuze
Summary: This study investigates the individual characteristics that affect memory contextualization after stress. The results show that factors such as life adversity, trait anxiety, salivary cortisol level, and alpha-amylase reactivity are related to memory contextualization during different stages of the stress response.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Anna-Maria Grob, Branka Milivojevic, Arjen Alink, Christian F. Doeller, Lars Schwabe
Summary: Memories are not stored in isolation. Insight into the relationship of initially unrelated events may trigger a flexible reconfiguration of the mnemonic representation of these events. However, stress impairs this process and leads to fragmented memories in PTSD. In this study, acute stress was found to reduce brain activity and disrupt the reconfiguration of memories, but interestingly, it enhanced long-term memory performance. These findings have implications for understanding memory distortions in stress-related mental disorders.
Article
Neurosciences
Anna Cremer, Felix Kalbe, Jana Christina Mueller, Klaus Wiedemann, Lars Schwabe
Summary: In this study, the distinct roles of dopamine and noradrenaline in the exploration-exploitation tradeoff during human choice were investigated. The results showed that amisulpride increased the sensitivity to critical choice features, while propranolol was associated with a reduced tendency to use value information. These findings provide new insights into the regulation of human choice behavior, indicating the critical involvement of dopamine in directed exploration and a role of noradrenaline in more random exploration.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Rachel Rac-Lubashevsky, Anna Cremer, Anne G. E. Collins, Michael J. Frank, Lars Schwabe
Summary: Human learning and decision-making rely on multiple parallel systems. Recent studies have shown a trade-off between reinforcement learning (RL) and working memory (WM). A computational model predicts that high WM load slows behavioral acquisition but enhances robustness and retention through larger prediction errors in the RL system.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Li Lin, Lars Schwabe, Xiaoyu Wang, Lei Zhan, Liang Zhang
Summary: Chronic exposure to daily stress can have negative effects on mental health, particularly when individuals lack adaptive adjustment mechanisms. This study investigated how adaptive capacities in cognition and emotion, as well as their neural signatures, can moderate stress reactivity in daily life. The results showed that a larger adaptation effect in reaction times of a conflict task predicted a stronger negative affect in response to stress on the same day. The adaptation effect in brain activity components elicited by the conflict task also predicted a weaker influence of today's stress on the next day's stress level, indicating better stress adaptation. These findings have implications for early screening of stress-vulnerable populations and the prevention and intervention of stress-related mental disorders.
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Blazej M. Baczkowski, Jan Haaker, Lars Schwabe
Summary: Learning about threats relies on Pavlovian conditioning, but this method has limitations in detecting known threats and involves the risk of danger. Individuals use mnemonic processes to expand our ability to recognize danger, even in novel situations with minimal aversive experience. The interplay between these memories allows us to infer danger and protect ourselves.
TRENDS IN COGNITIVE SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Stefan Schulreich, Anita Tusche, Philipp Kanske, Lars Schwabe
Summary: Our study provides a comprehensive account of the socio-cognitive and neural mechanisms through which socioeconomic status affects charitable giving. We found that both charitable giving and social cognition were status-dependent, and the link between SES and charitable giving was mediated by individuals' mentalizing capacity. At the neural level, higher subjective SES was associated with stronger value coding in the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ), which predicted charitable giving and was linked to mentalizing.
Article
Neurosciences
Henk Karst, Wouter J. Droogers, Nelleke van der Weerd, Ruth Damsteegt, Nicky van Kronenburg, R. Angela Sarabdjitsingh, Marian Joels
Summary: Early life stress (ELS) alters the excitation-inhibition-balance (EI-balance) in the mouse brain by influencing the GABA-switch, which is accelerated in ELS mice compared to controls. This accelerated switch is associated with increased expression of the inward chloride transporter NKCC1. Both pre- and postsynaptic chloride homeostasis are affected by this switch, leading to altered glutamatergic transmission.
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Nina Rouhani, Yael Niv, Michael J. Frank, Lars Schwabe
Summary: This article reviews the prioritization of events associated with aversive or rewarding outcomes and attributes the memory boost to the elicited affective response, which is closely linked to noradrenergic and dopaminergic modulation of hippocampal plasticity. In addition, it compares this 'affect' mechanism to a recently discovered 'prediction' mechanism where memories are strengthened by prediction errors (PEs) that deviate from expectations. The mnemonic impact of PEs is separate from the affective outcome and has a distinct neural signature, and both mechanisms have different and sometimes opposing predictions for memory integration.
TRENDS IN COGNITIVE SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Valentina Krenz, Arjen Alink, Tobias Sommer, Benno Roozendaal, Lars Schwabe
Summary: Memories undergo a time-dependent neural reorganization, with a transformation characterized by a semantic nature and reflected in pattern reinstatement in the hippocampus and event representations in the neocortex.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Lars Schwabe
Summary: Memory is controlled by competing brain systems, and acute stress can bias this competition towards habit learning over cognitive learning. Recent research suggests that stress not only affects memory formation, but also modulates the engagement of multiple memory systems during retrieval. The specific shift in brain systems during retrieval depends on the intensity of initial training and may enhance efficient responding during stressful encounters.
CURRENT OPINION IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Anna-Maria Grob, Denise Ehlers, Lars Schwabe
Summary: This study examined the effects of stress on individual event memory and found that stress can enhance the memory of individual events but impair the memory of the temporal sequence between events. This suggests that acute stress has an impact on memory formation.
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Paul A. G. Forbes, Irini Chaliani, Leonhard Schilbach, Tobias Kalenscher
Summary: Sharing resources is essential for human cooperation and survival. People are more likely to share resources with individuals they feel close to than with those who are socially distant. In this study, we examined social discounting and framing effects in autism and found that autistic adults showed greater generosity to socially distant others and were less influenced by framing effects compared to neurotypical participants. These findings suggest that autism may be associated with enhanced rationality in prosocial decision-making.
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Marian Joels
Summary: Mary Dallman has left a significant legacy in neuroendocrinology, both as a scientist who contributed new concepts and as a role model for women in the field. This article compares her journey as the first female faculty member at UCSF with subsequent generations, discusses the contribution of our labs on rapid corticosteroid actions, and highlights the importance of keeping an open mind in scientific research, a principle advocated by Mary Dallman.
STRESS-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON THE BIOLOGY OF STRESS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Anna-Maria Grob, Branka Milivojevic, Arjen Alink, Christian F. Doeller, Lars Schwabe
Summary: Gaining insight through imagination and observation contributes to the integration of separate events into coherent episodes. In this study, fMRI and representational similarity analysis were used to investigate the behavioral and neural effects of insight through imagination. The results revealed that insight through imagination was weaker than insight through observation, but the imagination group had better detail memory. Additionally, the imagination group exhibited different neural activation patterns compared to the observation group, suggesting that imagination hinders concurrent mnemonic integration but may enhance long-term memory.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Farrah N. Madison, Verner P. Bingman, Tom Smulders, Christine R. Lattin
Summary: Although research on the avian hippocampus has been limited, it is crucial for understanding its evolution and changes over time. The avian hippocampus plays important roles in spatial cognition as well as regulating anxiety, approach-avoidance behavior, and stress responses. Future research should focus on elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms, including endocrinology, to resolve outstanding questions about avian hippocampal function and organization.
HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR
(2024)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Judith A. H. Smit, Riet Vooijs, Peter Lindenburg, Alexander T. Baugh, Wouter Halfwerk
Summary: This study investigates the effects of urbanization on hormone levels in tungara frogs and found that urban frogs and forest frogs have different endocrine phenotypes. Exposure to urban noise and light pollution led to an increase in testosterone and a decrease in corticosterone in urban frogs, while forest frogs showed no endocrine response to sensory pollutants. These results suggest that urbanization can modulate hormone levels and influence behavior in frogs.
HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR
(2024)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Hannah D. Fulenwider, Yangmiao Zhang, Andrey E. Ryabinin
Summary: Social hierarchies have significant effects on overall health of individuals in animal groups, particularly the lowest-ranking individuals. Tube test can be used to determine social rank in male and female mice, and the complex interactions between social rank, sex, environment, and testing length influence peptide levels.
HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR
(2024)