Sex differences in stress reactivity in arousal and attention systems

Abstract

Women are more likely than men to suffer from psychiatric disorders with hyperarousal symptoms, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression. In contrast, women are less likely than men to be diagnosed with schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which share attentional impairments as a feature. Stressful events exacerbate symptoms of the aforementioned disorders. Thus, researchers are examining whether sex differences in stress responses bias women and men towards different psychopathology. Here we review the preclinical literature suggesting that, compared to males, females are more vulnerable to stress-induced hyperarousal, while they are more resilient to stress-induced attention deficits. Specifically described are sex differences in receptors for the stress neuropeptide, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), that render the locus coeruleus arousal system of females more vulnerable to stress and less adaptable to CRF hypersecretion, a condition found in patients with PTSD and depression. Studies on the protective effects of ovarian hormones against CRF-induced deficits in sustained attention are also detailed. Importantly, we highlight how comparing males and females in preclinical studies can lead to the development of novel therapeutics to improve treatments for psychiatric disorders in both women and men.

Isometric exercise facilitates attention to salient events in women via the noradrenergic system

“…Consistent with this lower performance, postmenopausal women showed lower engagement of a right-lateralized frontoparietal network that responded to the oddball tones than did either of the two younger groups. Although animal research indicates that estradiol modulates LC activity (Bangasser et al, 2018;Herrera et al, 2018), our findings did not appear to be driven by hormone differences. The two groups of younger women with different hormone statuses did not show significant differences in frontoparietal network activation during the task.…”

“…Prior work suggests that sex hormone levels may influence LC function and how it interacts with frontoparietal attentional processes. In rats, the LC has both estradiol and progesterone receptors (Helena et al, 2006) and animal research also indicates that the LC is regulated by estrogen (Bangasser, Eck, & Sanchez, 2018;Herrera, Wang, & Mather, 2018). For instance, estradiol treatment of ovariectomized female monkeys and rats increases tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine β-hydroxylase, both of which are critical for NE synthesis (Pau et al, 2000;Serova, Rivkin, Nakashima, & Sabban, 2002).…”

Disability Insurance: Error Rates and Gender Differences

“…This opens up the possibility of bias, even if unintended. Alternatively, as discussed in the medical literature (Legato et al, 2016;Bangasser et al, 2019;Clocchiatti et al, 2016), women with a given disability present symptoms in a different way than men and this may affect disability insurance screening. 5…”

Gender Differences in Threat Biases: Trauma Type Matters in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

“…However, cognitive processing differences are difficult to disentangle from the cultural forces which blame victims (Suarez & Gadalla, ). These cognitive and social differences may also be associated with neurological differences (see Bangasser & Valentino, , for a review) likely secondary to hormonal differences, which may increase hyperarousal in females (Bangasser, Eck, & Ordones Sanchez, ).…”