Stress and the brain: Perceived stress mediates the impact of the superior frontal gyrus spontaneous activity on depressive symptoms in late adolescence

Wang, Song; Zhao, Yajun; Zhang, Lei; Wang, Xu; Wang, Xiuli; Cheng, Bo-Chao; Luo, Kui; Gong, Qiyong

doi:10.1002/hbm.24752

Cited by 91 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 123 publications

(225 reference statements)

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“…Two hundred thirty‐four local high school students aged 16 to 20 years (112 males, mean age = 18.6 years, SD = 0.78) participated in the study, all of whom were right‐handed native Mandarin Chinese speakers and were recruited from an ongoing neuroimaging project with the purpose of exploring the behavioral and neural substrates underlying social abilities, personality, and academic achievement among adolescents in Chengdu, China (Li et al, ; Wang et al, , ; Wang, Dai, et al, ; Wang, Zhao, et al, ). All participants were healthy and had no history of psychiatric or neurological diseases according to their records in the student archives from the schools and their self‐reports for two items (i.e., “Have you and your parents ever had any neurological illnesses?” and “Have you and your parents ever had any psychiatric illnesses?”) (Wang et al, ). Three participants were excluded from the following analyses as a result of abnormal brain morphological structure (e.g., unusual cysts).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurostructural correlates of optimism: Gray matter density in the putamen predicts dispositional optimism in late adolescence

Lai

Wang

Zhao

et al. 2019

Human Brain Mapping

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Dispositional optimism reflects one's generalized positive expectancies for future outcomes and plays a crucial role in personal developmental outcomes and health (e.g., counteracting related mental disorders such as depression and anxiety). Increasing evidence has suggested that extraversion is an important personality factor contributing to dispositional optimism. However, less is known about the association between dispositional optimism and brain structure and the role of extraversion in this association. Here, we examined these issues in 231 healthy high school students aged 16 to 20 years (110 males, mean age = 18.48 years, SD = 0.54) by estimating regional gray matter density (rGMD) using a voxel‐based morphometry method via structural magnetic resonance imaging. Whole‐brain regression analyses revealed a significant positive correlation between dispositional optimism and the rGMD of the bilateral putamen after adjusting for age, sex, family socioeconomic status (SES), general intelligence, and total gray matter volume (TGMV). Moreover, prediction analyses using fourfold balanced cross‐validation combined with linear regression confirmed a significant connection between dispositional optimism and putamen density after adjusting for age, sex, and family SES. More importantly, subsequent mediation analysis showed that extraversion may account for the association between putamen density and dispositional optimism after adjusting for age, sex, family SES, general intelligence, TGMV, and the other four Big Five personality traits. Taken together, the current study provides new evidence regarding the neurostructural basis underlying dispositional optimism in adolescents and underscores the importance of extraversion as an essential personality factor for dispositional optimism acquisition.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurostructural correlates of optimism: Gray matter density in the putamen predicts dispositional optimism in late adolescence

Lai

Wang

Zhao

et al. 2019

Human Brain Mapping

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“…The SFG is thought to be involved in cognitive functions and emotion regulation-related processes, such as working memory and depression (Niendam et al, 2012), and low-frequency oscillation stimulation of the left SFG enhances working memory (Frank et al, 2014;Alagapan et al, 2019). It has been reported that perceived stress was positively correlated with fALFF in the left SFG and MFG, which play a partial mediating role in the relationship between perceived stress and depression (Wang et al, 2019). The DCG, PCG, and the precuneus are critical parts of the default mode network (DMN), which is related to cognition and emotion (Cavanna and Trimble, 2006;Leech and Sharp, 2014;Caruana et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary Study of Subclinical Brain Alterations in Patients With Asymptomatic Carotid Vulnerable Plaques Using Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Imaging by Voxelwise Comparison: A Study of Whole-Brain Imaging Measures

et al. 2020

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ObjectiveTo preliminarily explore subclinical brain alterations in an asymptomatic carotid vulnerable plaque group based on intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) imaging through voxelwise comparison in the whole brain.Materials and MethodsForty-nine elderly participants underwent multi-b-value DWI, of whom 24 participants with asymptomatic carotid vulnerable plaques and <50% stenosis served as the test group, while the rest served as the healthy control group. After fitting the double-exponential model, slow ADC (Ds) and the fraction of fast ADC (f) values of the whole brain were obtained, which then were compared in a voxelwise manner by two-sample t-test. Multiple comparisons were corrected by the family-wise error (FWE) method with a corrected threshold of P < 0.05. Pearson correlations between IVIM parameters in altered brain regions and blood pressure, glucose, lipid, and homocysteine were calculated.ResultsFor the test group, the Z-normalized Ds values were significantly higher in the left median cingulate and paracingulate gyrus (DCG.L), posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG. L), and left precuneus gyrus (PCUN.L) (cluster size = 156) and in the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG.L), orbital middle frontal gyrus (ORBmid.L), and superior frontal gyrus (SFG.L) (cluster size = 165); the Z-normalized Ds values were significantly lower in the right middle temporal gyrus (MTG.R) and inferior temporal gyrus (ITG.R) (cluster size = 116); and the Z-normalized f-values were significantly lower in the MTG.R and ITG.R (cluster size = 85) (p < 0.05, FWE correction). LDL-C was negatively correlated with the Z-normalized Ds values in the DCG.L, PCG.L, and PCUN.L (r = 0.601, p = 0.002). LDL-C was positively correlated with the Z-normalized f-value in the MTG.R and ITG.R (r = 0.405, p = 0.05). Systolic blood pressure was positively correlated with the Z-normalized Ds values in the MFG.L, ORBmid.L, and SFG.L (r = 0.433, p = 0.035).ConclusionThis study was the first to detect subclinical brain alterations in asymptomatic carotid vulnerable plaque group through IVIM using whole-brain voxelwise comparisons, which were partially correlated with blood pressure and lipids. Thus, IVIM might be utilized as a noninvasive biomarker of microvascular and microstructural brain changes in the asymptomatic carotid vulnerable plaque group.

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“…Over the past decade, researchers have become increasingly interested in adolescent stress as a transdiagnostic risk factor because of its prevalence and its association with internalizing and externalizing disorders [23][24][25] as well as a host of other negative consequences, including poorer physical and academic outcomes. Adolescence is also a developmental stage where individuals may be particularly sensitive to stress due to shifts in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity, leading to more intense hormonal responses to stressors, particularly in older adolescents [26].…”

Section: Stress As a Risk Factor In Adolescencementioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a Digital Mental Health Program on Perceived Stress in Adolescents Aged 13-17 Years: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Boucher¹,

Ward²,

Stafford³

et al. 2021

JMIR Res Protoc

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Background Stress is an important transdiagnostic risk factor in adolescence and predicts a host of physical and psychological problems in adolescence and adulthood. Adolescence is also a developmental stage in which people may be more sensitive or reactive to stress. Indeed, research has shown that adolescents report high levels of stress, particularly when enrolled in school. However, adolescents report engaging in few, if any, stress management techniques. Consequently, the development of effective programs to help address adolescent stress is particularly important. To date, most stress management programs for adolescents are delivered within schools, and the evidence for such programs is mixed. Furthermore, most of these programs rely on traditional stress management techniques rather than incorporating methods to address the underlying negative cognitive processes, such as rumination, that may contribute to or exacerbate the effects of perceived stress. Objective The aim of this study is to test the short-term effects of a digital mental health program designed for adolescents aged 13-17 years on perceived stress and rumination. Methods This is a randomized controlled trial in which adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 years, with elevated levels of perceived stress and brooding, will be randomly assigned to complete 8 weeks of a digital mental health program (Happify for Teens) or to a corresponding wait-list control group. The study will take place over 3 months, including the 8-week intervention period and 1-month postintervention follow-up. The primary outcome, perceived stress, along with secondary and exploratory outcomes (ie, brooding, optimism, sleep disturbance, and loneliness) will be assessed via self-report at baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks to compare changes in these outcomes across conditions. Results Recruitment is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2021, with a target sample size of 800 participants (400 per condition). Participants will begin the study as they are recruited and will finish in waves, with the first wave of data expected 8 weeks after recruitment begins and the final wave of data expected by the end of the third quarter of 2021. Conclusions Although school-based stress management programs for adolescents are common, research suggests that they may be limited in their reach and more effective for school-based stress than other types of stress. This trial will be one of the first attempts to examine the potential benefits of a digital mental health program on adolescents to address stress along with negative cognitive processes such as rumination. If successful, this would help introduce a more scalable alternative to school-based programs that offers adolescents greater privacy while also providing insight into novel ways to target adolescent mental health more generally. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04567888; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04567888 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/25545

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Stress and the brain: Perceived stress mediates the impact of the superior frontal gyrus spontaneous activity on depressive symptoms in late adolescence

Cited by 91 publications

References 123 publications

Neurostructural correlates of optimism: Gray matter density in the putamen predicts dispositional optimism in late adolescence

Neurostructural correlates of optimism: Gray matter density in the putamen predicts dispositional optimism in late adolescence

Preliminary Study of Subclinical Brain Alterations in Patients With Asymptomatic Carotid Vulnerable Plaques Using Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Imaging by Voxelwise Comparison: A Study of Whole-Brain Imaging Measures

Effects of a Digital Mental Health Program on Perceived Stress in Adolescents Aged 13-17 Years: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

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