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Schulz MA, Hetzer S, Eitel F, Asseyer S, Meyer-Arndt L, Schmitz-Hübsch T, Bellmann-Strobl J, Cole JH, Gold SM, Paul F, Ritter K, Weygandt M. Similar neural pathways link psychological stress and brain-age in health and multiple sclerosis. iScience 2023; 26:107679. [PMID: 37680475 PMCID: PMC10480681 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2022] [Revised: 07/30/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Clinical and neuroscientific studies suggest a link between psychological stress and reduced brain health in health and neurological disease but it is unclear whether mediating pathways are similar. Consequently, we applied an arterial-spin-labeling MRI stress task in 42 healthy persons and 56 with multiple sclerosis, and investigated regional neural stress responses, associations between functional connectivity of stress-responsive regions and the brain-age prediction error, a highly sensitive machine learning brain health biomarker, and regional brain-age constituents in both groups. Stress responsivity did not differ between groups. Although elevated brain-age prediction errors indicated worse brain health in patients, anterior insula-occipital cortex (healthy persons: occipital pole; patients: fusiform gyrus) functional connectivity correlated with brain-age prediction errors in both groups. Finally, also gray matter contributed similarly to regional brain-age across groups. These findings might suggest a common stress-brain health pathway whose impact is amplified in multiple sclerosis by disease-specific vulnerability factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc-Andre Schulz
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Berlin, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH), Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Stefan Hetzer
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Berlin, Germany
| | - Fabian Eitel
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Berlin, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
| | - Susanna Asseyer
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation Between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lil Meyer-Arndt
- NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Neurology, Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Regenerative Immunology and Aging, BIH Center for Regenerative Therapies, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tanja Schmitz-Hübsch
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation Between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Judith Bellmann-Strobl
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation Between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - James H. Cole
- Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK
- Dementia Research Centre, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Stefan M. Gold
- Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis (INIMS), Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Medical Department, Section Psychosomatic Medicine, Berlin, Germany
| | - Friedemann Paul
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation Between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kerstin Ritter
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Berlin, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Weygandt
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, A Cooperation Between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Brasanac J, Hetzer S, Asseyer S, Kuchling J, Bellmann-Strobl J, Ritter K, Gamradt S, Scheel M, Haynes JD, Brandt AU, Paul F, Gold SM, Weygandt M. Central stress processing, T cell responsivity to stress hormones, and disease severity in multiple sclerosis. Brain Commun 2022; 4:fcac086. [PMID: 35441135 PMCID: PMC9014535 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcac086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Epidemiological, clinical and neuroscientific studies support a link between psychobiological stress and multiple sclerosis. Neuroimaging suggests that blunted central stress processing goes along with higher multiple sclerosis severity, neuroendocrine studies suggest that blunted immune system sensitivity to stress hormones is linked to stronger neuroinflammation. Until now, however, no effort has been made to elucidate whether central stress processing and immune system sensitivity to stress hormones are related in a disease-specific fashion, and if so, whether this relation is clinically meaningful. Consequently, we conducted two functional MRI analyses based on a total of 39 persons with multiple sclerosis and 25 healthy persons. Motivated by findings of an altered interplay between neuroendocrine stress processing and T-cell glucocorticoid sensitivity in multiple sclerosis, we searched for neural networks whose stress task-evoked activity is differentially linked to peripheral T-cell glucocorticoid signalling in patients versus healthy persons as a potential indicator of disease-specific CNS–immune crosstalk. Subsequently, we tested whether this activity is simultaneously related to disease severity. We found that activity of a network comprising right anterior insula, right fusiform gyrus, left midcingulate and lingual gyrus was differentially coupled to T-cell glucocorticoid signalling across groups. This network’s activity was simultaneously linked to patients’ lesion volume, clinical disability and information-processing speed. Complementary analyses revealed that T-cell glucocorticoid signalling was not directly linked to disease severity. Our findings show that alterations in the coupling between central stress processing and T-cell stress hormone sensitivity are related to key severity measures of multiple sclerosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelena Brasanac
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Benjamin Franklin, 12203 Berlin, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Lindenberger Weg 80, 13125 Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefan Hetzer
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Susanna Asseyer
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Lindenberger Weg 80, 13125 Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Joseph Kuchling
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Neurology, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), 10178 Berlin, Germany
| | - Judith Bellmann-Strobl
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Lindenberger Weg 80, 13125 Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Kristin Ritter
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Benjamin Franklin, 12203 Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefanie Gamradt
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Benjamin Franklin, 12203 Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael Scheel
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Neuroradiology, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - John-Dylan Haynes
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, 10117, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alexander U. Brandt
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Lindenberger Weg 80, 13125 Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- Department of Neurology, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Friedemann Paul
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Lindenberger Weg 80, 13125 Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Neurology, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefan M. Gold
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Benjamin Franklin, 12203 Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis (INIMS), Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Martin Weygandt
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a cooperation between the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Lindenberger Weg 80, 13125 Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
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D'Alonzo M, Mioli A, Formica D, Di Pino G. Modulation of Body Representation Impacts on Efferent Autonomic Activity. J Cogn Neurosci 2020; 32:1104-1116. [PMID: 31951156 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
The afferent branch of the autonomic nervous system contributes with interoception to the multimodal sensory correlation continuously needed to update our representation of the body. To test whether the modulation of body representation would have an impact on the efferent branch of the autonomic nervous system, nonspecific skin conductance has been measured in three rubber hand illusion (RHI) experiments, controlled with asynchronous brush-stroking and incongruent fake hand position. Nonspecific skin conductance standard deviation (SCSD) computed along the whole 90 sec of stroking was found to be increased by the illusion and to correlate with all the typical measures of embodiment. Computing SCSD in shorter time windows strongly enhanced the difference between illusion and controls. The highest difference was found in the 10-55 sec window, being the 14-34 sec window as the most informative one. The higher correlations with the validated measures of embodiment (all but the proprioceptive drift) were found for time windows ranging between 35 and 65 sec. The SCSD was no longer significantly higher when the RHI was repeated twice (two trials each iteration), but it was still significantly higher in synchronous stroking even when considering only the second trial. However, after the first iteration of the RHI paradigm, the effect of the embodiment on nonspecific skin conductance response results to be attenuated, suggesting that novelty in presentation of the RHI can contribute to the effect on nonspecific skin conductance response. Results candidate SCSD as a noninvasive, cheap, easy, and objective measure of embodiment, especially sensible to onset and strength of the illusion. Alike the already known enhanced autonomic reaction to a threatening, SCSD does not interfere with the collection of other behavioral measures. Correlations and their dynamics, presence of the effect in the second presentation of the setup but relative low robustness against multiple repetition, suggest that the increased fluctuations of skin conductance caught by SCSD are not just the effect of different presented sensory stimuli but more likely a stronger arousal response to the novelty of the updated perceptual status.
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Stevenson RJ, Hodgson D, Oaten MJ, Sominsky L, Mahmut M, Case TI. Oral Immune Activation by Disgust and Disease-Related Pictures. J PSYCHOPHYSIOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1027/0269-8803/a000143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. Both disgust and disease-related images appear able to induce an innate immune response but it is unclear whether these effects are independent or rely upon a common shared factor (e.g., disgust or disease-related cognitions). In this study we directly compared these two inductions using specifically generated sets of images. One set was disease-related but evoked little disgust, while the other set was disgust evoking but with less disease-relatedness. These two image sets were then compared to a third set, a negative control condition. Using a wholly within-subject design, participants viewed one image set per week, and provided saliva samples, before and after each viewing occasion, which were later analyzed for innate immune markers. We found that both the disease related and disgust images, relative to the negative control images, were not able to generate an innate immune response. However, secondary analyses revealed innate immune responses in participants with greater propensity to feel disgust following exposure to disease-related and disgusting images. These findings suggest that disgust images relatively free of disease-related themes, and disease-related images relatively free of disgust may be suboptimal cues for generating an innate immune response. Not only may this explain why disgust propensity mediates these effects, it may also imply a common pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Deborah Hodgson
- Laboratory of Neuroimmunology, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
| | - Megan J. Oaten
- Department of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia
| | - Luba Sominsky
- Laboratory of Neuroimmunology, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
| | - Mehmet Mahmut
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Trevor I. Case
- Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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