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Tyler MP, Wright BJ, Beaton R, Monger K, Raison CL, Lowry CA, Evans L, Hale MW. Severity of depressive symptoms moderates the sympathoinhibitory effect of local skin warming following exposure to a social stressor. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2024; 159:106420. [PMID: 37866124 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Revised: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 10/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023]
Abstract
Depression is the leading cause of disease burden globally. Existing antidepressant treatments that target the central nervous system have limited efficacy and come at the cost of significant side effects. Thus, there is growing interest in novel therapeutic interventions for the prevention and treatment of depression, including interventions that target interoceptive signaling. The thermosensory system may hold particular promise, given evidence that depression is associated with impairments in thermosensory functioning, and that whole-body hyperthermia produces an antidepressant effect in patients with major depressive disorder. In this study, we investigated whether the severity of depressive symptoms in a non-clinical population moderated the effect of local skin warming on subjective and physiological stress responses following exposure to an acute social stressor. Following exposure to the stressor, participants (N = 90) rested their arm on a heat blanket that was either turned on (local skin warming condition) or left off (control condition). We demonstrate that local skin warming increased fingertip temperature, a marker of reduced sympathetic nervous system activity, but only for participants with high levels of depressive symptoms. While local skin warming also inhibited salivary alpha amylase, severity of depressive symptoms did not moderate this effect, and no effect was found for electrodermal activity. These data highlight the importance of incorporating peripheral physiology in our conceptualization of the pathophysiology of depression and show that changes in sympathetic nervous system activity may underpin the antidepressant effect of warm stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark P Tyler
- School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia
| | - Bradley J Wright
- School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia
| | - Russell Beaton
- School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia
| | - Katherine Monger
- School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia
| | - Charles L Raison
- Human Development and Family Studies, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI 53706, USA; Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Christopher A Lowry
- Department of Integrative Physiology, Center for Neuroscience, and Center for Microbial Exploration, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA; Veterans Health Administration, Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), Denver, CO 80220, USA; Military and Veteran Microbiome Consortium for Research and Education (MVM-CoRE), Denver, CO 80220, USA
| | - Lynette Evans
- School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia
| | - Matthew W Hale
- School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia.
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Lloyd KM, Gabard-Durnam L, Beaudry K, De Lisio M, Raine LB, Bernard-Willis Y, Watrous JNH, Whitfield-Gabrieli S, Kramer AF, Hillman CH. Cross-sectional analysis reveals COVID-19 pandemic community lockdown was linked to dysregulated cortisol and salivary alpha amylase in children. Front Public Health 2023; 11:1210122. [PMID: 38169630 PMCID: PMC10758420 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1210122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic altered everyday life starting in March 2020. These alterations extended to the lives of children as their normal routines were disrupted by community lockdowns, online learning, limited in-person social contact, increased screen time, and reduced physical activity. Considerable research has investigated the physical health impact of COVID-19 infection, but far fewer studies have investigated the physiological impact of stressful pandemic-related changes to daily life, especially in children. The purpose of this study was to leverage an ongoing clinical trial to investigate physiological consequences associated with chronic stress of pandemic community lockdown on children. As a part of the clinical trial, children provided saliva samples. Saliva samples were analyzed for cortisol and salivary alpha amylase (sAA) content. This secondary cross-sectional analysis included 94 preadolescent children located within the Greater Boston, Massachusetts community. Children participated in the study either before, during, or following the pandemic community lockdown to form three groups for comparison. In response to chronic stress caused by the pandemic community lockdown, participants demonstrated dysregulation of fast-acting catecholamine response of the locus-coeruleus-norepinephrine system and slower-acting glucocorticoid response, resulting in an asymmetrical relationship of hypocortisolism (M = 0.78 ± 0.19 μg/mL, p < 0.001) paired with higher sAA (M = 12.73 ± 4.06 U/mL, p = 0.01). Results suggest that the abrupt COVID-19 disruption to daily life, including the stressful experience of community lockdown, had physiological effects on typically developing children. Further research is required to investigate mental health outcomes of children following the chronic stress of the pandemic community lockdown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine M. Lloyd
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Kayleigh Beaudry
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Michael De Lisio
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Lauren B. Raine
- Department of Physical Therapy, Movement, and Rehabilitation Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Ysabeau Bernard-Willis
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
- Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | | | - Arthur F. Kramer
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
- University of Illinois Beckman Institute, Champaign-Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Charles H. Hillman
- Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Physical Therapy, Movement, and Rehabilitation Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
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