scholarly journals Childhood urbanicity interacts with polygenic risk for depression to affect stress-related medial prefrontal function

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Zhang ◽  
Hao Yan ◽  
Hao Yu ◽  
Xin Zhao ◽  
Shefali Shah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Depressive Illness ◽  
Behavioral Risk ◽  
Polygenic Risk ◽  
Prefrontal Function ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Functional Relevance ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
Risk For Depression

AbstractUrbanization is increasing globally, and is associated with stress and increased mental health risks, including for depression. However, it remains unclear, especially at the level of brain function, how urbanicity, social threat stressors, and psychiatric risk may be linked. Here, we aim to define the structural and functional MRI neural correlates of social stress, childhood urbanicity, and their putative mechanistic relevance to depressive illness risk, in terms of behavioral traits and genetics. We studied a sample of healthy adults with divergent urban and rural childhoods. We examined childhood urbanicity effects on brain structure as suggested by MRI, and its functional relevance to depression risk, through interactions between urbanicity and trait anxiety-depression, as well as between urbanicity and polygenic risk for depression, during stress-related medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) engagement. Subjects with divergent rural and urban childhoods were similar in adult socioeconomic status and were genetically homogeneous. Urban childhood was associated with relatively reduced mPFC gray matter volumes as suggested by MRI. MPFC engagement under social status threat correlated with the higher trait anxiety-depression in subjects with urban childhoods, but not in their rural counterparts, implicating an exaggerated physiological response to the threat context with urbanicity, in association with behavioral risk for depression. Stress-associated mPFC engagement also interacted with polygenic risk for depression, significantly predicting a differential mPFC response in individuals with urban but not rural childhoods. Developmental urbanicity, therefore, appears to interact with genetic and behavioral risk for depression on the mPFC neural response to a threat context.

scholarly journals Childhood urbanization affects prefrontal cortical responses to trait anxiety and interacts with polygenic risk for depression

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Zhang ◽  
Hao Yan ◽  
Hao Yu ◽  
Xin Zhao ◽  
Shefali Shah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Genetic Risk ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Polygenic Risk ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
Risk For Depression

AbstractGlobal increases in urbanization have brought dramatic economic, environmental and social changes. However, less is understood about how these may influence disease-related brain mechanisms underlying epidemiological observations that urban birth and childhoods may increase the risk for neuropsychiatric disorders, including increased social stress and depression. In a genetically homogeneous Han Chinese adult population with divergent urban and rural birth and childhoods, we examined the structural and functional MRI neural correlates of childhood urbanicity, focusing on behavioral traits responding to social status threats, and polygenic risk for depression. Subjects with divergent rural and urban childhoods were similar in adult socioeconomic status and were genetically homogeneous. Urban childhoods, however, were associated with higher trait anxiety-depression. On structural MRI, urban childhoods were associated with relatively reduced medial prefrontal gray matter volumes. Functional medial prefrontal engagement under social status threat during working memory correlated with trait anxiety-depression in subjects with urban childhoods, to a significantly greater extent than in their rural counterparts, implicating an exaggerated physiological response to the threat context. Stress-associated medial prefrontal engagement also interacted with polygenic risk for depression, significantly predicting a differential response in individuals with urban but not rural childhoods. Developmental urbanicity thus differentially influenced medial prefrontal structure and function, at least in part through mechanisms associated with the neural processing of social status threat, trait anxiety, and genetic risk for depression, which may be factors in the association of urbanicity with adult psychopathology.Significance StatementUrban living has been associated with social inequalities and stress. However, less is understood about the neural underpinnings by which these stressors affect disease risk, and in particular, genetic risk for depression. Leveraging urbanization in China, we studied adults with diverse urban and rural upbringings, who were genetically homogeneous and with similar current socioeconomic status, to isolate the effects of childhood urbanicity. At medial prefrontal cortex, a region critical for processing emotional stressors and social status, genetic risk for depression resulted in more deleterious function under stress in individuals with urban, but not rural childhoods. This implicates medial prefrontal cortex’s critical role in brain development, integrating genetic mechanisms of stress and depression with the childhood environment.

scholarly journals Subjective cognitive complaints at age 70: associations with amyloid and mental health

2021 ◽  
pp. jnnp-2020-325620
Author(s):  
Ivanna M. Pavisic ◽  
Kirsty Lu ◽  
Sarah E. Keuss ◽  
Sarah-Naomi James ◽  
Christopher A. Lane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family History ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Subjective Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Amyloid Pathology ◽  
History Of ◽  
Β Amyloid ◽  
Anxiety Depression

ObjectiveTo investigate subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in relation to β-amyloid pathology and to test for associations with anxiety, depression, objective cognition and family history of dementia in the Insight 46 study.MethodsCognitively unimpaired ~70-year-old participants, all born in the same week in 1946 (n=460, 49% female, 18% amyloid-positive), underwent assessments including the SCD-Questionnaire (MyCog). MyCog scores were evaluated with respect to 18F-Florbetapir-PET amyloid status (positive/negative). Associations with anxiety, depression, objective cognition (measured by the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite, PACC) and family history of dementia were also investigated. The informant’s perspective on SCD was evaluated in relation to MyCog score.ResultsAnxiety (mean (SD) trait anxiety score: 4.4 (3.9)) was associated with higher MyCog scores, especially in women. MyCog scores were higher in amyloid-positive compared with amyloid-negative individuals (adjusted means (95% CIs): 5.3 (4.4 to 6.1) vs 4.3 (3.9 to 4.7), p=0.044), after accounting for differences in anxiety. PACC (mean (SD) −0.05 (0.68)) and family history of dementia (prevalence: 23.9%) were not independently associated with MyCog scores. The informant’s perception of SCD was generally in accordance with that of the participant.ConclusionsThis cross-sectional study demonstrates that symptoms of SCD are associated with both β-amyloid pathology, and more consistently, trait anxiety in a population-based cohort of older adults, at an age when those who are destined to develop dementia are still likely to be some years away from symptoms. This highlights the necessity of considering anxiety symptoms when assessing Alzheimer’s disease pathology and SCD.

scholarly journals Effects of polygenic risk for major mental disorders and cross-disorder on cortical complexity

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Simon Schmitt ◽  
Tina Meller ◽  
Frederike Stein ◽  
Katharina Brosch ◽  
Kai Ringwald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Genetic Risk ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
Grey Matter Volume ◽  
Polygenic Risk ◽  
Risk For Depression

Abstract Background MRI-derived cortical folding measures are an indicator of largely genetically driven early developmental processes. However, the effects of genetic risk for major mental disorders on early brain development are not well understood. Methods We extracted cortical complexity values from structural MRI data of 580 healthy participants using the CAT12 toolbox. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, and cross-disorder (incorporating cumulative genetic risk for depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) were computed and used in separate general linear models with cortical complexity as the regressand. In brain regions that showed a significant association between polygenic risk for mental disorders and cortical complexity, volume of interest (VOI)/region of interest (ROI) analyses were conducted to investigate additional changes in their volume and cortical thickness. Results The PRS for depression was associated with cortical complexity in the right orbitofrontal cortex (right hemisphere: p = 0.006). A subsequent VOI/ROI analysis showed no association between polygenic risk for depression and either grey matter volume or cortical thickness. We found no associations between cortical complexity and polygenic risk for either schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or psychiatric cross-disorder when correcting for multiple testing. Conclusions Changes in cortical complexity associated with polygenic risk for depression might facilitate well-established volume changes in orbitofrontal cortices in depression. Despite the absence of psychopathology, changed cortical complexity that parallels polygenic risk for depression might also change reward systems, which are also structurally affected in patients with depressive syndrome.

scholarly journals A machine learning approach to identifying objective biomarkers of anxiety and stress

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjun Ramakrishnan ◽  
Adam Pardes ◽  
William Lynch ◽  
Christopher Molaro ◽  
Michael Louis Platt
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
High Trait ◽  
High Trait Anxiety

AbstractAnxiety and stress-related disorders are highly prevalent and debilitating conditions that impose an enormous burden on society. Sensitive measurements that can enable early diagnosis could mitigate suffering and potentially prevent onset of these conditions. Self-reports, however, are intrusive and vulnerable to biases that can conceal the true internal state. Physiological responses, on the other hand, manifest spontaneously and can be monitored continuously, providing potential objective biomarkers for anxiety and stress. Recent studies have shown that algorithms trained on physiological measurements can predict stress states with high accuracy. Whether these predictive algorithms generalize to untested situations and participants, however, remains unclear. Further, whether biomarkers of momentary stress indicate trait anxiety – a vulnerability foreshadowing development of anxiety and mood disorders – remains unknown. To address these gaps, we monitored skin conductance, heart rate, heart rate variability and EEG in 39 participants experiencing physical and social stress and compared these measures to non-stressful periods of talking, rest, and playing a simple video game. Self-report measures were obtained periodically throughout the experiment. A support vector machine trained on physiological measurements identified stress conditions with ~96% accuracy. A decision tree that optimally combined physiological and self-report measures identified individuals with high trait anxiety with ~84% accuracy. Individuals with high trait anxiety also displayed high baseline state anxiety but a muted physiological response to acute stressors. Overall, these results demonstrate the potential for using machine learning tools to identify objective biomarkers useful for diagnosing and monitoring mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

Differentiating anxiety and depression: the State-Trait Anxiety-Depression Inventory

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 1409-1423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl-Heinz Renner ◽  
Michael Hock ◽  
Ralf Bergner-Köther ◽  
Lothar Laux
Keyword(s):  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
The State ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Anxiety Depression

Social stress induces hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis responses in lactating rats bred for high trait anxiety

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 1599-1603 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Douglas ◽  
S. L. Meddle ◽  
S. Kroemer ◽  
W. Muesch ◽  
O. J. Bosch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Adrenal Axis ◽  
High Trait ◽  
High Trait Anxiety ◽  
Pituitary Adrenal Axis

The Relationship Between Communication Attitude, Anxiety, and Depression in Stutterers and Nonstutterers

1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 789-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Miller ◽  
Ben C. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
General State ◽  
Severity Rating ◽  
Self Perceptions ◽  
Communication Situations ◽  
Negative Communication ◽  
State And Trait Anxiety ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
The Relationship

People who stutter are frequently viewed as more anxious than nonstutterers and as being depressed. Further, a strong and pervasive stereotype is held by nonstutterers that people who stutter are guarded, nervous, and tense. This study examined self-perceptions of general state and trait anxiety, depression, and communication attitude in matched groups of stutterers and nonstutterers. Results refute the assertion that people who stutter are more anxious or depressed than those who do not. Anxiety and depression are not related to self-ratings of stuttering severity. Communication attitude is negative for this group of people who stutter and becomes increasingly negative as self-ratings of stuttering become more severe. People who stutter, grouped by severity rating, differed in the strength of the relation between measures of communication attitude, anxiety, and depression. Findings suggest that the anxiety of people who stutter is restricted to their attitude towards communication situations and that it is a rational response to negative communication experiences.

scholarly journals Association between psychological factors and temporomandibular disorders in adolescents of rural and urban zones

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Restrepo ◽  
Ana Maria Ortiz ◽  
Ana Carolina Henao ◽  
Ruben Manrique
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Temporomandibular Disorders ◽  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Chi Squared ◽  
Multiple Variable ◽  
Rural Zone ◽  
Axis I ◽  
Anxiety Depression

Abstract Background Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are related to psychological factors. Adolescence is one of the stages in life with more psychosocial vulnerability, which is dissimilar in rural and urban zones. Thus, the aim of this investigation was to evaluate the association between psychological factors (symptoms of anxiety, depression and somatization) and TMD in adolescents between 12 and 15 years, belonging to urban and rural zones of Colombia. Methods 180 subjects aged 12–15 years (mean 13.8, SD 1.2), enrolled in public schools in the rural (n = 90) and urban (n = 90) zones were included. All subjects were evaluated using the DC/TMD instrument; the Axis I was applied for the clinical examination and the Axis II for the psychological evaluation. Data were analyzed by means of T-student, Mann–Whitney, Kruskall–Wallis tests, Pearson Chi square and multiple-variable analysis with logistic regression. Results Forty percent of the included subjects presented some type of TMD. TMD related to pain were the most common (25.5% of the studied adolescents), being myalgia the most common (20% of the adolescents in urban zone and 31.1% of the adolescents in the rural zone). There was no difference between the TMD present in males and females, but there were differences in the symptoms of Anxiety, and Somatization (p < 0.05). TMD and psychological factors were more prevalent in children with 13 years of age. A statistically significant association between TMD and symptoms of Anxiety (Pearson Chi squared 25.57, p = 0.04), depression (Pearson Chi squared 33.28, p = 0.03) and somatization (Pearson Chi squared 25.79, p = 0.04) was found in subjects from rural zones. No associations between psychological aspects and TMD were found in subjects from urban zones, but overall all psychological factors significantly influenced TMD. Conclusion This study indicates Myalgia to be the most prevalent TMD in studied Colombian adolescents. Pain-related TMDs are associated with psychological factors in the adolescent population of rural Colombia. Symptoms of anxiety, depression and somatization were found to be associated to TMD, even when the frequency was not necessarily severe.

Test Anxiety in Girls and Boys: A Clinical—Developmental Analysis

1996 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret K. Warren ◽  
Thomas H. Ollendick ◽  
Neville J. King
Keyword(s):  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Test Anxiety ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Attitude Inventory ◽  
Ability Tests ◽  
Academic Grades ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
High Test

A large sample of children and adolescents were screened for test anxiety using the Test Attitude Inventory (Spielberger, 1980). Subjects with low and high test anxiety were then compared on self-report measures of trait anxiety, depression, and fear and then asked to report their thoughts and level of distress following an imagined test. Academic grades and performance on standardised achievement and ability tests were also obtained. High test-anxious children and adolescents reported higher levels of trait anxiety, depression, and fear as well as greater distress and cognitive interference during the imagined test. They also obtained lower grades and performed more poorly on the standardised measures. Age effects moderated these findings. Discussion focuses on the clinical and developmental implications of the findings.

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