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7 papers
This paper is a meta-analysis of more than 300 studies in humans that looked at links between psychological stress and measures of the immune system. It found that very short, acute stressors (minutes) were tied to increases in some natural (innate) immune measures and decreases in some specific (adaptive) immune…
This review examines studies on how testosterone relates to anxiety and depression and how that might help explain sex differences in these disorders. About 18% of U.S. adults have an anxiety disorder each year and about 7% have major depressive disorder, and women are more than twice as likely as…
Several brain-imaging studies found that people with long-term work-related burnout showed differences in brain structure and function compared with matched healthy adults. In groups where participants had worked more than about 60–70 hours per week for several years, researchers reported larger amygdala size, thinner medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) tissue, weaker…
The researchers repeatedly measured early-morning cortisol and self-reported depressive symptoms in a population of adolescents. Using a statistical method to find subgroups, they identified a high-risk group (17% of the sample) with both high depressive symptoms and elevated morning cortisol. Membership in this group was linked to worse autobiographical memory…
This 2013 review explains how physical and psychological stress change the brain and body. It describes how stress activates the HPA (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal) system and alters brain chemicals such as GABA, dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. The paper also covers short-term memory effects, animal models used to study chronic stress, and both…
This review paper brings together animal and human studies to explain how alcohol and stress hormones may change the prefrontal cortex and the body’s stress system as drinking moves from casual use toward dependence. The authors say alcohol raises stress hormones (glucocorticoids) right away, and repeated heavy use can produce…
This rat study tested whether stress during the peripuberty period (seven non-consecutive days between postnatal day 28 and 42) changed play fighting at adolescence and later brain markers. Rats exposed to peripubertal stress showed more play fighting at P45. The researchers found that animals with very high play fighting in…
