The Hippocampal–Ventral Medial Prefrontal Cortex Neurocircuitry Involvement in the Association of Daily Life Stress With Acute Perceived Stress and Cortisol Responses

Abstract

Objective: Daily life stressors include everyday irritants, hassles, and inconveniences, such as problems in traffic and unexpected work deadlines. A growing body of research has suggested higher daily stress is associated with blunted cortisol response to acute psychosocial stressors. However, so far, the neural mechanism underlying this association has not been elucidated. The current study aimed to examine the role of stress neurocircuitry between the hippocampus and the ventral medial prefrontal cortex in this relationship. Methods: To this end, as an index of daily stress in 44 young healthy individuals (23 females; mean [standard deviation] age = 19.07 [1.11] years), the total stressful rating score of daily life stress events that occurred in a 24-hour period was quantified. Individuals were then administered a modified version of the Montreal Imaging Stress Task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging scans, and their saliva samples were collected for assessment of the stress hormone cortisol. Results: Results revealed that a higher level of daily stress was associated with lower salivary cortisol secretion (r = −0.39, p = .008) and lower activation of the left hippocampus (t peak = −5.51) in response to the Montreal Imaging Stress Task. Furthermore, a higher level of daily stress was associated with stronger functional connectivity between the left hippocampus and the ventral medial prefrontal cortex/ subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (t peak = 4.91, R 2 = 0.365). Conclusions: Taken together, the current study suggested a possible neurocircuitry of the hippocampus and ventral medial prefrontal cortex in the relationship between daily life stress and acute psychosocial stress.

Exposure to a sensory functional ingredient in the pig model modulates the blood-oxygen-level dependent brain responses to food odor and acute stress during pharmacological MRI in the frontostriatal and limbic circuits

“…Some authors documented the amygdala reactivity during cortisol reactivity to a psychosocial stressor (44) while others showed that increased perceived stress is directly associated with increased amygdala connectivity with frontal cortical regions (45). The prefrontal and cingulate cortices also play a major role in acute perceived stress and cortisol responses (46). Our pig model consequently represents a real asset to investigate the effects of potential interventional strategies on the brain responses to acute stress.…”

Neural habituation during acute stress signals a blunted endocrine response and poor resilience

“…In the ScanSTRESS study, we found greater right hippocampus and amygdala habituation in people with a higher level of depression, whereas in the MIST study, we found greater right insula habituation in people with a higher level of chronic stress. Depression and chronic disorders are associated with prefrontal and limbic system dysregulation (Dwivedi et al, 2015; Ren et al, 2022; Xu et al, 2021; Yang et al, 2013). For example, the depression level could alter the prefrontal cortex and limbic system function both at rest and during a task (Mujica-Parodi, Cha, & Gao, 2017; Pannekoek et al, 2013), especially in reward-related tasks (Gold, Morey, & McCarthy, 2015; Hu, 2018).…”

“…Therefore, we used an independent sample under the MIST paradigm to validate the results (48 participants; 17–22 years old, 24 women). Information about the MIST paradigm has been previously reported in another article (Ren et al, 2022). Similar to the ScanSTRESS paradigm, the MIST paradigm also uses social evaluative threat and uncontrollability to induce acute stress.…”

“…Given that habituation represents a reduced response to certain stimuli (Rankin et al, 2009), we hypothesized that neural habituation in these areas might interfere with the endocrine system and result in a blunted endocrine response. Further, depression and chronic stress are common mental disorders associated with a blunted endocrine response (Carroll et al, 2007; Ren et al, 2022). Therefore, we also hypothesized that neural habituation would positively correlate with depression and chronic stress.…”