Sex-dependent multimodal response profiles to psychosocial stress

Abstract

Introduction Sex differences in stress reactions are often reported in the literature. However, the sex-dependent interplay of different facets of stress is still not fully understood. Particularly in neuroimaging research, studies on large samples combining different indicators of stress remain scarce. Materials and Methods In a functional magnetic resonance imaging study, a sample of 140 healthy participants (67 females using oral contraceptives) underwent a standardized stress induction protocol, the ScanSTRESS. During the experiment, salivary cortisol and subjective ratings were obtained at multiple time points and heart rate was recorded. Results Sex differences emerged in different facets of the stress response:Women reacted with enhanced subjective feelings of stress and increases in heart rate, while men showed more pronounced neural activation in stress-related brain regions such as the inferior frontal gyrus and insula. Subjective feelings of stress and (para) hippocampal activity were negatively related in women,whereas a slightly positive association was observed in men. Discussion These results provide further insight in the sex-specific stress response patterns. Moreover, they emphasize the role of the hippocampus in the regulation of the stress response. This paves the way for the identification of sex-dependent vulnerability factors that can, in the future, be implemented in the prevention and treatment of stress-related disorders.

Stress-induced brain responses are associated with BMI in women

“…Accordingly, women also showed stronger associations between BMI and activation in the posterior insula, the subjective stress experience, and baseline cortisol. Overweight and obesity are more prevalent in women (Garawi et al, 2014; Hedley et al, 2004) and women show distinct stress responses (Kuhn et al, 2023). Moreover, increased food intake in response to stress is more often reported by women (Adam and Epel, 2007; Grunberg and Straub, 1992; Meule et al, 2018; Zellner et al, 2006).…”

Stress-induced brain responses are associated with BMI in women

“…Notably, increased food intake in response to stress is more often reported by women 69 – 72 . As women also show distinct neural, subjective 29 , and endocrine stress responses 23 as well as different associations between hippocampal activity and subjective stress experience 28 , it is conceivable that females are more sensitive to altered stress reactivity associated with an increase in BMI. In turn, these sex differences may promote stress-related eating thereby further affecting stress reactivity.…”

“…First, there are sex differences in stress responses as females have shown increased subjective but blunted endocrine responses 23 , 24 . Likewise, neural stress responses differ between males and females 25 – 27 , including associations between stress-induced brain responses and subjective stress experiences 28 , 29 . Second, sex hormones regulate endocrine stress responses 30 and energy metabolism 20 , substantiating potential sex differences in the interplay between stress and BMI.…”

Psychological Resilience in Adolescence as a function of Genetic Risk for Major Depressive Disorder and Alzheimer’s Disease

“…90) within an experimental paradigm would provide a finer grained dynamic representation of the multiscale interactions underpinning resilience. Fifth, the reliable sex differences observed in stress responses (91, 92), as well as in the genetic architecture underlying complex traits (93), highlight the need for cross-species comparative research to characterise sex-specific neurogenetic substrates of resilience, including compensatory mechanisms linked to AD/MDD vulnerability.…”