Individual reactivity and physiology of the stress response (original) (raw)
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Behavioral and Neurochemical Consequences Associated with Stressorsa
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1986
The view has repeatedly been expressed that aversive events may increase vulnerability to a wide range of psychological disturbances, including clinical depression. While not dismissing the contribution of cognitive alterations in the provocation of affective disorders, it has been maintained that the neurochemical consequences associated with aversive events are responsible for the depressive symptomatology.'.2 Specifically, it was proposed that when an organism is confronted with a stressor, it will adopt any of a number of behavioral styles in order to escape from the insult or to diminish its impact. Concurrently, a series of neurochemical changes may occur, whose function may be one of either blunting the physical or psychological impact of the stressor or enabling the organism to emit appropriate responses to deal effectively with the stressor. Failure of these adaptive mechanisms may render the organism more vulnerable to behavioral depression. In the present report we document both transient and persistent neurochemical sequelae of stressors and relate these to the behavioral consequences associated with psychological and physical insults. ADAPTIVE NEUROCHEMICAL CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO AVERSIVE STIMULI Although stressful events provoke several neurochemical and hormonal variations, the present report will focus on only two of these, specifically norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA). Omission of other transmitters and hormones does not imply that they are of lesser importance. Indeed, as will be seen later, the very great number of behavioral alterations associated with stressors, and their potential modification by various types of pharmacological manipulations, provide prima facie evidence that transmitters other than the catecholamines are also associated with the behavioral effects of uncontrollable aversive events. asupported by Grants A9845 and A1087 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Grants MT-6486 and MA-8130 from the Medical Research Council of Canada. 20s 206 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Norepinephrine W Re-exposure 10 Re-exposme to Re-exposure to UncontroUsMe Stress Uffionlrollable Stress Unconlrollable Stress 60 shocks on the first day and 10 shocks on the second day. (From Anisman et al? With permission from Academic Press.
Behavioral and Neurochemical Consequences Associated with Stressors
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1986
The view has repeatedly been expressed that aversive events may increase vulnerability to a wide range of psychological disturbances, including clinical depression. While not dismissing the contribution of cognitive alterations in the provocation of affective disorders, it has been maintained that the neurochemical consequences associated with aversive events are responsible for the depressive symptomatology.'.2 Specifically, it was proposed that when an organism is confronted with a stressor, it will adopt any of a number of behavioral styles in order to escape from the insult or to diminish its impact. Concurrently, a series of neurochemical changes may occur, whose function may be one of either blunting the physical or psychological impact of the stressor or enabling the organism to emit appropriate responses to deal effectively with the stressor. Failure of these adaptive mechanisms may render the organism more vulnerable to behavioral depression. In the present report we document both transient and persistent neurochemical sequelae of stressors and relate these to the behavioral consequences associated with psychological and physical insults. ADAPTIVE NEUROCHEMICAL CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO AVERSIVE STIMULI Although stressful events provoke several neurochemical and hormonal variations, the present report will focus on only two of these, specifically norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA). Omission of other transmitters and hormones does not imply that they are of lesser importance. Indeed, as will be seen later, the very great number of behavioral alterations associated with stressors, and their potential modification by various types of pharmacological manipulations, provide prima facie evidence that transmitters other than the catecholamines are also associated with the behavioral effects of uncontrollable aversive events. asupported by Grants A9845 and A1087 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Grants MT-6486 and MA-8130 from the Medical Research Council of Canada. 20s 206 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Norepinephrine W Re-exposure 10 Re-exposme to Re-exposure to UncontroUsMe Stress Uffionlrollable Stress Unconlrollable Stress 60 shocks on the first day and 10 shocks on the second day. (From Anisman et al? With permission from Academic Press.
Differential Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Reactivity to Psychological and Physical Stress 1
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 1999
Healthy men exhibit a differential hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) response to exercise stress and fall into two groups: high responders (HR) and low responders (LR). The present study examined whether HR to physical stress also exhibit higher HPA reactivity to psychological stress than LR. We examined 14 HR and 13 LR classified based on their ACTH responses to high intensity exercise after pretreatment with dexamethasone. Both groups were of similar age, height, weight, and fitness level. Trait anxiety scores on the Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale were not different. Subjects underwent a psychological stress test consisting of an interview and mental arithmetic. This test raised heart rate, blood pressure, and plasma ACTH and cortisol levels in both HR and LR. HR tended to have higher heart rates and blood pressures in anticipation of the psychological stress test than LR. ACTH responses of HR were higher, although not significantly, throughout the psychological stress test than LR. HR had a significantly (P Ͻ 0.05) greater net integrated cortisol response to the psychological stress than LR. This suggests that the adrenal cortexes of the HR are hypertropic and/or hypersensitive to ACTH. We conclude that men who are highly responsive to exercise stress are also highly responsive to psychological stress.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1998
tion signals, hormones, cytokines, other mediators) that arrive through distinct pathways. Activation of the stress system leads to a cluster of time-limited behavioral and physical changes that are remarkably consistent in their qualitative presentation and collectively called the general adaptation or stress syndrome . These changes are normally adaptive and improve the chances of the individual for survival. Components of the stress syndrome are stimulated in a stressor-specific fashion; however, as the potency of the stressor increases, the specificity of the response decreases to eventually produce the relatively "nonspecific" stress syndrome.
Endocrinology of the Stress Response 1
Annual Review of Physiology, 2005
■ Abstract The stress response is subserved by the stress system, which is located both in the central nervous system and the periphery. The principal effectors of the stress system include corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH); arginine vasopressin; the proopiomelanocortin-derived peptides α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone and β-endorphin, the glucocorticoids; and the catecholamines norepinephrine and epinephrine. Appropriate responsiveness of the stress system to stressors is a crucial prerequisite for a sense of well-being, adequate performance of tasks, and positive social interactions. By contrast, inappropriate responsiveness of the stress system may impair growth and development and may account for a number of endocrine, metabolic, autoimmune, and psychiatric disorders. The development and severity of these conditions primarily depend on the genetic vulnerability of the individual, the exposure to adverse environmental factors, and the timing of the stressful events, given that prenatal life, infancy, childhood, and adolescence are critical periods characterized by increased vulnerability to stressors. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 2005.67:259-284. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org by HARVARD UNIVERSITY on 03/27/07. For personal use only.
Differential ?- and ?-adrenergic activation during psychological stress
European Journal of Applied Physiology, 1997
The responsivity of several cardiovascular indices to a computerized mental arithmetic stress and a cold pressor stress were investigated in 22 healthy adult subjects. The major findings were that the largelyadrenergically driven T-wave amplitude, pre-ejection period, R-wave to pulse interval, and left ventricular ejection time values responded only to mental arithmetic; a significant decrease in cardiac output and increase in peripheral resistance were elicited during the cold pressor test; inter-beat-interval and subjective stress ratings responded significantly to both stresses compared to baseline levels, but more intensely to mental arithmetic than the cold pressor test; blood pressure, stroke volume and the maximum of the first derivative of the raw impedance signal responded unspecifically to both stresses. These findings support the idea that cardiovascular responses to psychological challenge depend on the level of cognitive processing required for the task. In addition, the superfluity of multiple variable measurements to study cardiovascular reactivity in such situations is discussed.
Stress-induced sensitization: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and beyond
Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2015
Exposure to certain acute and chronic stressors results in an immediate behavioral and physiological response to the situation followed by a period of days when cross-sensitization to further novel stressors is observed. Cross-sensitization affects to different behavioral and physiological systems, more particularly to the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. It appears that the nature of the initial (triggering) stressor plays a major role, HPA cross-sensitization being more widely observed with systemic or high-intensity emotional stressors. Less important appears to be the nature of the novel (challenging) stressor, although HPA cross-sensitization is better observed with short duration (5-15 min) challenging stressors. In some studies with acute immune stressors, HPA sensitization appears to develop over time (incubation), but most results indicate a strong initial sensitization that progressively declines over the days. Sensitization can affect other physiological system ...
Acute catecholaminergic responses to mental and physical stressors in man
Stress Medicine, 1992
The measurement of plasma norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (EPI) levels has provided a means to assess Sympathetic and adrenal medullary responses to stressors. To address the issue of specificity of these responses to mental or physical stress, we measured plasma norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (EPI) levels in male volunteers who underwent either exhaustive graded treadmill exercise or a 30min stressful interview. We found that graded treadmill exercise to exhaustion (mean duration of exercise 15.2 k 0.7min) was associated with similar increases in both NE (239 per cent) and EPI (201 per cent) immediately after completing exercise. Elevated values rapidly returned to baseline levels after exercise. In response to the 30min stressful interview where subjects remained seated throughout the stressor, there were smaller but highly significant increases in plasma levels of both NE (67 per cent) and EPI (82 per cent) within the first lOmin of the interview. By the last 1Omin of the interview, EPI levels were already returning to baseline values while N E levels remained elevated throughout and for at least 5min after the exam. These findings demonstrate that a stressful interview is associated with increases in both N E and EPI levels which are qualitatively similar to the responses to a physical stressor.