Social Stress and Social Approach

AbstractAdolescence is an important developmental period during which anxiety-related behaviors differentiate in males and females. In humans anxiety prevalence increases to a greater degree in women than men after puberty, but the mechanism is unknown. We used social defeat stress to model anxiety behaviors in California mouse, a species in which aggressive females allow for comparison of social anxiety behaviors across sex. Adult female California mice show reduced social approach and increased social vigilance after exposure to stress, while these changes are weaker in males. Here we show that in juveniles, social defeat reduces social approach and increases social vigilance in both males and females. Next, we show that prepubertal castration sensitizes adult males to social defeat. However, when pubertal castration was paired with either testosterone or dihydrostesterone replacement, effects of defeat on social approach and vigilance were blunted in adult males. We also showed that effects of defeat on social behavior in juveniles were oxytocin receptor dependent, as has been described for adult females. This work highlights the importance of pubertal testosterone to the development of sex differences in anxiety behavior, and provides evidence that androgen receptors play an important role in the development of neural circuits of anxiety.

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Extra-hypothalamic oxytocin neurons drive stress-induced social vigilance and avoidance

10.1101/2020.06.02.129981 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Natalia Duque-Wilckens ◽

Lisette Y. Torres ◽

Sae Yokoyama ◽

Vanessa A. Minie ◽

Amy M. Tran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Stress ◽

Social Contexts ◽

Stria Terminalis ◽

Social Approach ◽

Bed Nucleus ◽

Defensive Behaviors ◽

Oxytocin Infusion ◽

Different Populations ◽

Social Vigilance ◽

Sensitive Population

AbstractOxytocin increases the salience of both positive and negative social contexts and it is thought that these diverse actions on behavior are mediated in part through circuit-specific action. This hypothesis is based primarily on manipulations of oxytocin receptor function, leaving open the question of whether different populations of oxytocin neurons mediate different effects on behavior. Here we inhibited oxytocin synthesis in a social stress-sensitive population of oxytocin neurons specifically within the medioventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTmv). Oxytocin knock-down prevented stress-induced increases in social vigilance and decreases in social approach. Viral tracing of BNSTmv oxytocin neurons revealed fibers in regions controlling defensive behaviors including lateral hypothalamus, anterior hypothalamus, and anteromedial BNST (BNSTam). Oxytocin infusion into BNSTam in stress naïve mice increased social vigilance and reduced social approach. These results show that a population of extra-hypothalamic oxytocin neurons play a key role in controlling stress-induced social anxiety behaviors.

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Extrahypothalamic oxytocin neurons drive stress-induced social vigilance and avoidance

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2011890117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (42) ◽

pp. 26406-26413 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Natalia Duque-Wilckens ◽

Lisette Y. Torres ◽

Sae Yokoyama ◽

Vanessa A. Minie ◽

Amy M. Tran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Stress ◽

Social Contexts ◽

Stria Terminalis ◽

Social Approach ◽

Bed Nucleus ◽

Defensive Behaviors ◽

Oxytocin Infusion ◽

Different Populations ◽

Social Vigilance ◽

Sensitive Population

Oxytocin increases the salience of both positive and negative social contexts and it is thought that these diverse actions on behavior are mediated in part through circuit-specific action. This hypothesis is based primarily on manipulations of oxytocin receptor function, leaving open the question of whether different populations of oxytocin neurons mediate different effects on behavior. Here we inhibited oxytocin synthesis in a stress-sensitive population of oxytocin neurons specifically within the medioventral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTmv). Oxytocin knockdown prevented social stress-induced increases in social vigilance and decreases in social approach. Viral tracing of BNSTmv oxytocin neurons revealed fibers in regions controlling defensive behaviors, including lateral hypothalamus, anterior hypothalamus, and anteromedial BNST (BNSTam). Oxytocin infusion into BNSTam in stress naïve mice increased social vigilance and reduced social approach. These results show that a population of extrahypothalamic oxytocin neurons plays a key role in controlling stress-induced social anxiety behaviors.

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Effects of Social Stress on Autonomic, Behavioral, and Acoustic Parameters in Adults Who Stutter

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2019_jslhr-s-18-0241 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 62 (7) ◽

pp. 2185-2202 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Kim R. Bauerly ◽

Robin M. Jones ◽

Charlotte Miller

Keyword(s):

Social Stress ◽

Acoustic Parameters ◽

Adults Who Stutter

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Social Motives Predict Loneliness During a Developmental Transition

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185/a000201 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 76 (4) ◽

pp. 145-153 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jana Nikitin ◽

Alexandra M. Freund

Keyword(s):

Social Relationships ◽

Well Being ◽

Social Avoidance ◽

Social Approach ◽

Social Motives ◽

Developmental Transitions ◽

Avoidance Motivation ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Low Levels

Abstract. Establishing new social relationships is important for mastering developmental transitions in young adulthood. In a 2-year longitudinal study with four measurement occasions (T1: n = 245, T2: n = 96, T3: n = 103, T4: n = 85), we investigated the role of social motives in college students’ mastery of the transition of moving out of the parental home, using loneliness as an indicator of poor adjustment to the transition. Students with strong social approach motivation reported stable and low levels of loneliness. In contrast, students with strong social avoidance motivation reported high levels of loneliness. However, this effect dissipated relatively quickly as most of the young adults adapted to the transition over a period of several weeks. The present study also provides evidence for an interaction between social approach and social avoidance motives: Social approach motives buffered the negative effect on social well-being of social avoidance motives. These results illustrate the importance of social approach and social avoidance motives and their interplay during developmental transitions.

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Messung der Stimmfrequenz im Paargespräch – Chancen für Diagnostik und Intervention in der Paartherapie

Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie Psychologie und Psychotherapie ◽

10.1024/1661-4747/a000420 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 68 (4) ◽

pp. 217-227 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lisanne J. Bulling ◽

Isabella C. Bertschi ◽

Céline C. Stadelmann ◽

Tina Niederer ◽

Guy Bodenmann

Keyword(s):

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Trier Social Stress Test

Zusammenfassung. Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt die bisherigen empirischen Befunde zur Sprachgrundfrequenz (f0) in Paargesprächen vor und untersucht, wie sich die f0 nach einer experimentellen Stressinduktion im anschließenden spontanen Gespräch zwischen den Partner_innen verändert, wie die f0 mit der verbalen Stressäußerung zusammenhängt und wie sie zwischen den beiden Partner_innen kovariiert. Von 128 heterosexuellen Paaren nahm jeweils eine Person pro Paar am Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) teil. Die dem TSST vorangehende und anschließende naturalistische Interaktion zwischen den Partner_innen wurde gefilmt und nach Gesprächsthema und Art der Stressäußerung kodiert. Wie vorherige Studien zur f0 im Paargespräch zeigte auch die vorliegende Studie, dass die f0 wichtige Informationen über die Partnerschaft enthält. Während eine Erhöhung der f0 in Gesprächen über einen paarinternen Stressor (d.h. bei Konfliktgesprächen) mit negativen Kommunikationsmustern einherging, zeigte die vorliegende Studie, dass die f0 bei Gesprächen über einen paarexternen Stressor (d.h. beim TSST) mit emotionsorientierten Stressäußerungen einherging, also einer für den Stressbewältigungsprozess förderlichen Art der Kommunikation. Die Oszillatorenmodelle zeigen darüber hinaus, dass eine Kopplung der f0 zwischen den Partner_innen besteht, was darauf hindeutet, dass die nicht gestressten Partner_innen auf die paraverbalen Stressäußerungen der gestressten Partner_innen mit ihren eigenen paraverbalen Stressäußerungen reagieren.

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The Effects of Visual Displays in Attenuating Discrepancies Between Self-Reported and Physiological Indexes of Stress

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000587 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Jenny J. W. Liu ◽

Julia Gervasio ◽

Kenneth Fung ◽

Kristin Vickers

Keyword(s):

Social Stress ◽

Visual Display ◽

Physiological Measures ◽

Response Strategies ◽

Subjective Evaluations ◽

Stress Task ◽

Physiological Indexes ◽

Physiological Outcomes ◽

Physiological Markers ◽

The Relationship

Abstract. This study examined whether the relationship between subjective and physiological outcomes of stress, and the responsivity to stressors, are affected by whether participants can see a visual display of their physiological output. Participants were randomly assigned to have a visible view of their physiological output readings, or to a condition in which physiological output readings were out of view. Participants individually completed a 30-min laboratory study including the modified Trier Social Stress Task. Both physiological markers of stress (heart rate and blood pressure) and subjective evaluations of stress (visual analog scale) were measured. Results found little congruency across subjective and physiological measures of stress. The visible visual display condition had elevated physiological arousal, while no group differences were observed in self-reported stress. Findings from the study provide insight into the use of visual physiological displays and hold practical implications for both the measurement of stress in research, and the development of wearable technologies without accompanying response strategies.

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