Sex difference in the weighting of expected uncertainty under chronic stress

Lei, Huijie; Mochizuki, Yasuhiro; Chen, Chong; Hagiwara, Kosuke; Hirotsu, Masako; Matsubara, Takehiro; Nakagawa, Shin

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-88155-1

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Interestingly however, previous studies that investigated behavioral attitudes towards uncertainty failed to establish consistent relations to chronic stress 27 . For instance, females and males were shown to exhibit different weighting of expected uncertainty under chronic stress 26 . The underlying assumption of the current study was that these inconsistencies may stem from the fact that previous decision-making tasks did not consider the differential contribution of risk and ambiguity to uncertainty.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Resting-state heart rate variability (HRV) mediates the association between perceived chronic stress and ambiguity avoidance

Jiryis

Magal

Fructher

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Chronic stress is associated with profound behavioral and physiological alterations, including intolerance to uncertainty and reduced resting-state heart-rate-variability (HRV). Critically, uncertainty may arise in situations with known probabilities (risk) or unknown probabilities (ambiguity). Whether associations between chronic stress and decision-making under uncertainty are dependent on the specific type of uncertain decisions, and whether physiological alterations play a role in these putative associations is not yet clear. Here, ninety-two healthy adults that exhibit various levels of perceived chronic stress underwent resting-state HRV recording before completing a behavioral task that involves decision-making under either risk or ambiguity. Computational modelling quantified participants’ behavioral attitudes of approach and avoidance separately for risk and ambiguity. Results indicate, as expected, that perceived chronic stress is positively associated with intolerance to uncertainty and negatively associated with resting-state HRV. Contrary to expectations, behavioral attitudes towards risk and ambiguity were not directly associated with perceived chronic stress, yet HRV fully mediated the association between chronic stress and ambiguity avoidance. Taken together and given the direction of the associations, elevated HRV despite chronic stress may foster adaptive behavior in the form of avoiding ambiguous situations, and hence contribute to reduced exposure to uncertainty and to lower levels of allostatic load.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In another study, hydrocortisone (a corticosteroid) administration was shown to yield increased risk avoidance in a lottery game among male participants 25 . More recently, it was found that chronic stress is associated with decision-making in the context of uncertainty in females but not males 26 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resting-state heart rate variability (HRV) mediates the association between perceived chronic stress and ambiguity avoidance

Jiryis

Magal

Fructher

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Additionally, with the specific intent to test the effect of stress on learning from contingencies and on learning over time, we analyzed performance on a trial-by-trial bases. To this end, the task was divided into 4 blocks of 25 trials each [ 10 ] and participants were categorized as perceiving low versus high chronic stress based on a median split of their PSS score [ 27 ]. A generalized linear Mixed-Effects model was performed by means of the glmer function of the lme4 R package [ 42 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, reward learning in men was found to be impaired after cortisol administration, while it was augmented in women [ 26 ]. While clear-cut data exist on acute stress, little is known about sex differences in decision making under chronic stress to make specific predictions [ 27 ]. Moreover, physiological reactions to both acute and chronic stress are moderated by age [ 23 , 28 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Perceived Stress and Immune Status on Decision-Making Abilities during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown

Tarantino

Tasca

Giannetto

et al. 2021

Behavioral Sciences

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The ability to make risky decisions in stressful contexts has been largely investigated in experimental settings. We examined this ability during the first months of COVID-19 pandemic, when in Italy people were exposed to a prolonged stress condition, mainly caused by a rigid lockdown. Participants among the general population completed two cognitive tasks, an Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), which measures individual risk/reward decision-making tendencies, and a Go/No-Go task (GNG), to test impulsivity, together with two questionnaires, the Perceived Stress Scale and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales. The Immune Status Questionnaire was additionally administered to explore the impact of the individual health status on decision making. The effect of the questionnaires scores on task performance was examined. The results showed that higher levels of perceived stress and a more self-reported vulnerable immune status were associated, separately, with less risky/more advantageous choices in the IGT in young male participants but with more risky/less advantageous choices in older male participants. These effects were not found in female participants. Impulsivity errors in the GNG were associated with more anxiety symptoms. These findings bring attention to the necessity of taking into account decision-making processes during stressful conditions, especially in the older and more physically vulnerable male population.

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“…While these studies advance our understanding of the neurocomputational changes of the disorders, future research is required to address the inconsistencies and further clarify potential sex differences. 37 By investigating the common and unique symptomatic characteristics and underlying neurobiological and neurocomputational mechanisms of the 2 disorders and their comorbidity, it can be concluded that recent studies have greatly advanced our understanding of the etiology and neuropathophysiology of these disorders. The insights provided by these studies also shed light on several treatment targets that may be of particular clinical interest, including bridge symptoms, distinct brain circuit targets and distinct neurocomputational alterations.…”

Section: Neurocomputational Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent advances in the study of the comorbidity of depressive and anxiety disorders

Chen¹

2022

Adv Clin Exp Med

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Depressive and anxiety disorders often comorbid, which causes more severe impairments. The high comorbidity and shared genetic and psychological factors between the 2 disorders have brought arguments about whether they represent a common construct, and whether the current classification is meaningful. In this editorial, a state-of-the-art overview of recent studies on the underlying mechanism of such comorbidity, and the association between and differentiation of the 2 disorders is provided. Recent studies employing datadriven approaches such as latent class analysis (LCA) and network analysis to investigate the symptomatology of depression and anxiety have indicated unique characteristics and bridging symptoms of their comorbidity. Whereas previous neurobiological and neuroendocrinological studies reported common alterations in prefrontal-limbic pathways, serotonergic projections and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, recent research suggests that distinct neural circuits and heterogeneous changes in HPA activity may exist in depression when compared to anxiety. Lastly, both depression and anxiety have been long associated with decision-making deficits; however, emerging evidence from computational psychiatry demonstrate that there may be unique neurocognitive and computational alterations in each disorder. By investigating the common and unique symptomatic characteristics and underlying neurobiological and neurocomputational mechanisms of the 2 disorders as well as their comorbidity, it can be concluded that recent studies have greatly advanced our understanding of the etiology and neuropathophysiology of these disorders.

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Sex difference in the weighting of expected uncertainty under chronic stress

Cited by 9 publications

References 51 publications

Resting-state heart rate variability (HRV) mediates the association between perceived chronic stress and ambiguity avoidance

Resting-state heart rate variability (HRV) mediates the association between perceived chronic stress and ambiguity avoidance

Impact of Perceived Stress and Immune Status on Decision-Making Abilities during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown

Recent advances in the study of the comorbidity of depressive and anxiety disorders

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