Impact of Stress on Brain Morphology: Insights into Structural Biomarkers of Stress-related Disorders

Abstract

Exposure to acute and chronic stress has a broad range of structural effects on the brain. The brain areas commonly targeted in the stress response models include the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the prefrontal cortex. Studies in patients suffering from the so-called stress-related disorders -embracing post-traumatic stress, major depressive and anxiety disorders- have fairly replicated animal models of stress response -particularly the neuroendocrine and the inflammatory models- by finding alterations in different brain areas, even in the early neurodevelopment. Therefore, this narrative review aims to provide an overview of structural neuroimaging findings and to discuss how these studies have contributed to our knowledge of variability in response to stress and the ulterior development of stress-related disorders. There are a gross number of studies available but neuroimaging research of stress-related disorders as a single category is still in its infancy. Although the available studies point at particular brain circuitries involved in stress and emotion regulation, the pathophysiology of these abnormalities -involving genetics, epigenetics and molecular pathways-, their relation to intraindividual stress responses -including personality characteristics, self-perception of stress conditions…-, and their potential involvement as biomarkers in diagnosis, treatment prescription and prognosis are discussed.

NADPH-oxidases as potential pharmacological targets for thrombosis and depression comorbidity

“…Moreover, depletion of microglia prevented the production of ROS and depression-like phenotypes in mice exposed to social stress [ 179 ]. Among brain cells, microglia have the greatest levels of NOX, particularly NOX2 ( Table 1 ) [ 177 ] and inflammation-induced overexpression of NOX2 occurs first in microglia and then in neurons [ 180 ]. Furthermore, the stress-induced anxiety-like phenotype was related with a rise in NOX2 in microglial cells and was prevented in NOX2 knock-out mice [ 181 ].…”

“…Some progress in understanding the molecular relationship between oxidative stress and psychiatric disorders, including depression, has been made in experimental models, primarily through the use of stress paradigms. Indeed, chronic stress experimental models have consistently reported to promote behavior deficit, along with corticolimbic brain areas atrophy, hippocampal neurogenesis reduction, neurotransmissions alteration, enhanced neuroinflammation, and disruption of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, all of which have been described in stress-related psychiatric disorders [ 180 , [224] , [225] , [226] ]…”

Thematic Selection: Stress and Stress-related Disorders Neurobiology & Translational Aspects of Stress-related Disorders (Part 3)

“…Paltoglou et al offer an overview of functional MRI and functional connectivity analysis studies, which support the coordination of the stress response by three main dynamic networks [ 11 ]. On the other hand, Cardoner et al provide an overview of structural imaging studies investigating the impact of stress on brain morphology [ 12 ].…”