Neural response to stress differs by sex in young adulthood

Cohen, Justine E.; Holsen, Laura M.; Ironside, Maria; Moser, Amelia D.; Duda, Jessica M.; Null, Kaylee; Perlo, Sarah; Richards, Christine E.; Nascimento, Nara F.; Du, Fei; Zhang, Chun; Misra, Madhusmita; Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Goldstein, Jill M.

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111646

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…With this measure, we assume an adolescence-initiated trajectory in neuronal and structural maturation has begun ( Sisk and Foster, 2004 ), and is differentiated by sex ( Beck et al, 2023 ; Juraska and Drzewiecki, 2020 ). Cohen and colleagues (2023) found that GABA levels in PFC related to different stress neurocircuitry in males compared to females, where males effectively performed better with increased levels of GABA, despite showing no difference in anxiety response or physiologically to stress compared to females ( Cohen et al, 2023 ). This is contrary to the concept that higher GABA levels interferes with cognitive flexibility but might indicate differing thresholds of inhibitory activity in males compared to females.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Excitatory and inhibitory neurochemical markers of anxiety in young females

Johnstone,

Cohen Kadosh

2024

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Excitatory and inhibitory neurochemical markers of anxiety in young females

Johnstone,

Cohen Kadosh

2024

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

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“…Our single sex sample contributes to a body of literature suggestive of sex based differences in the neurocircuitry of anxiety. Cohen and colleagues (2023) found that GABA levels in PFC related to different stress neurocircuitry in males compared to females, where males effectively performed better with increased levels of GABA, despite showing no difference in anxiety response or physiologically to stress compared to females (Cohen et al, 2023). This is contrary to the concept that higher GABA levels interferes with cognitive flexibility but might indicate differing thresholds of inhibitory activity in males compared to females.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Excitatory and Inhibitory neurochemical markers of anxiety in young females

Johnstone,

Kadosh

2023

Preprint

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Between the ages of 10-25 years the maturing brain is sensitive to a multitude of changes, including neurochemical variations in metabolites. Of the different metabolites, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) has long been linked neurobiologically to anxiety symptomology, which begins to manifest in adolescence. To prevent persistent anxiety difficulties into adulthood, we need to understand the maturational trajectories of neurochemicals and how these relate to anxiety levels during this sensitive period. We used magnetic resonance spectroscopy in a sample of younger (aged 10-11) and older (aged 18-25) females to estimate GABA and glutamate levels in brain regions linked to emotion regulation processing, as well as a conceptually distinct control region. Within the Bayesian framework, we found that GABA increased, and glutamate decreased with age, negative associations between anxiety and glutamate and GABA ratios in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and a positive relationship of GABA with anxiety levels. The results support the neural over-inhibition hypothesis of anxiety based on GABAergic activity.

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