The effects of perceived chronic stress on the fMRI correlates of attentional control in women managers

Abstract

The aims of the current study were to examine differences in brain responses to cognitive control in stressed and non-stressed women managers. Stress complaints are highly prevalent among active workers and play an important role in women managers mental health and cognitive functioning. Psychosocial stress has been associated with differential executive functions in this population, but little is known about the neural correlates underlying such differences. We examined brain responses of a particular group of workers that has been proposed to have a different response to stress as a function of their status (i.e., managers). Stressed (n = 19) and non-stressed women managers (n = 21) were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during the performance of a cognitively demanding task. We used the Stroop color-word task to compare neural activation associated with the suppression of a predominant response tendency (i.e., word reading) and the initiation of an appropriate behavior alternative (i.e., naming word color). Despite similar behavioral performances, stressed managers exhibited increased activation in the occipital cortex during response inhibition. No regions were more activated in the non-stressed relative to the stressed group. This finding of greater activation has been interpreted as compensatory brain response to maintain performance in front of cognitive challenge.

Adverse Life Experiences and Brain Function

“…When analyzing the 11 studies 62 , 64 , 69 , 76 , 79 , 84 , 88 , 93 , 107 , 113 , 119 (425 participants) that administered inhibitory control tasks, greater activity was found in the claustrum, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and insula in the adversity exposure group compared with controls (9 studies 62 , 64 , 69 , 79 , 84 , 93 , 107 , 113 , 119 ; 52 coordinates; FWER-corrected P < .05; axis = −26, y-axis = 19; z-axis = 13) (eFigure 3 in Supplement 2 ). No group differences were identified when looking at studies that reported lower BOLD responses (6 studies 62 , 64 , 69 , 76 , 88 , 93 ; 14 coordinates).…”

“…We entered 282 coordinates from 34 studies 23 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 70 , 72 , 74 , 79 , 80 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 104 , 106 , 110 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 129 , 130 , 131 that reported greater BOLD responses in adversity exposure compared with controls in adulthood (2382 participants; mean [SD] age, 32.7 [6.4] years). The analysis yielded significantly greater right amygdala activations (FWER-corrected P < .001; x-axis = 24; y-axis = −4, z-axis = −17) (eFigure 9 in Supplement 2 ) and significantly lower activations in the middle frontal gyrus (Brodmann area 10; 1074 participants; mean [SD] age, 31.2 [7.1] years; 23 studies 65 , 68 , 70 , 76 , 77 , 80 , 87 , 88 , 91 , 94 , 99 , 101 , 104 , 106 , 111 , 114 , 116 , 123 , ...…”

“…When analyzing the 11 studies 62,64,69,76,79,84,88,93,107,113,119 (425 participants) that administered inhibitory control tasks, greater activity was found in the claustrum, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and insula in the adversity exposure group compared with controls (9 studies 62,64,69,79,84,93,107,113,119 ;…”