Spatial attention impairments are characterized by specific electro-encephalographic correlates and partially mediate the association between early life stress and anxiety

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arielle S. Keller ◽  
Ruth Ling ◽  
Leanne Maree Williams

Although impaired attention is a diagnostic feature of anxiety disorders, we lack an understanding of which aspects of attention are impaired, the neurobiological basis of these impairments and the contribution of stressors. To address these gaps in knowledge, we developed and tested behavioral tasks designed to parse which subdomains of attention are more impaired with higher self-reported anxiety symptoms and used electro-encephalographic (EEG) recordings to probe the neural basis of attentional performance. Participants were n=57 individuals aged 18-35 with mild-to-moderate mood and anxiety symptoms. We took account of the COVID-19 pandemic as a naturalistic probe for prolonged stress occurring at a similar point in time for each participant. In these same participants, we assessed stressful events in early life prior to age 18 within discrete age brackets that may have a prolonged impact on neural functioning. Severity of anxiety was found to be specifically associated with impairments in spatial attention but not feature-based attention. Impairments in spatial selective attention were associated with decreased posterior alpha oscillations in EEG recordings, while spatial divided attention impairments were associated with a different profile of decreased fronto-central theta oscillations. These impairments in spatial attention also partially mediated the association between early life stressors and anxiety symptoms and were found to worsen as a function of prolonged current stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results provide a thorough characterization of attention impairments associated with anxiety, their electro-encephalographic correlates and the impact of stressors both in early life and in adulthood.

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (S1) ◽  
pp. 36-36
Author(s):  
Courtney Vaughan ◽  
Bethany Stangl ◽  
Rajita Sinha ◽  
Vijay Ramchandani

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: The objective of this analysis was to characterize the impact of stress, both early life and chronic, on intravenous alcohol self-administration (IV-ASA) in healthy non-dependent drinkers using the Computer-Assisted Infusion System (CAIS). Personality measures also have shown to impact drinking behavior, particularly impulsivity. Few studies have assessed the impact of stress and impulsivity on drinking behaviors in a non-dependent population. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Healthy non-dependent drinkers (n=28) completed a CAIS session, where they push a button adlib to self-administer standardized IV alcohol infusions. Participants completed the Cumulative Chronic Stress interview and the Early Life Stress Questionnaire (ELSQ) for stress measures. The Cumulative Chronic Stress interview was broken up into 4 sections: major life events, life traumas, recent life events, and chronic stressors. The number of endorsed events was added up to create 4 separate scores. Subjective response and craving measures were collected serially using the Drug Effects Questionnaire (DEQ) and Alcohol Urge Questionnaire (AUQ). The Impaired Control Scale (ICS) assessed failed control over recent drinking in the past 6 months. Impulsivity was assessed using the NEO personality inventory, which included the N-impulsive sub-facet, as well as the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Results showed early life stress events (ELSQ) are related to more chronic stressors in the cumulative chronic stress interview (p=0.005). Participants with higher chronic stress scores showed lower subjective effects, as measured by the DEQ, following the priming exposure (p=0.036) but had more craving for alcohol as measured by the AUQ (p=0.009). A regression analysis showed the number of chronic stressful events predicted ICS failed attempts to control drinking (p=0.034), after covarying for sex. Participants with more chronic stressful events showed more impulsivity on the N-impulsivity measure (p=0.034) and the UPPS-P positive urgency measure (p=0.005). DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Non-dependent drinkers with more early life stress tend to have a higher number of chronic stressful events. More chronically stressful events were associated with feeling less effects of alcohol and higher craving for alcohol. Participants with more chronically stressful events also appear to have more failed attempts at controlling their drinking. Future analysis will assess for mediation and moderation of these factors. Chronically stressful events and impulsive behaviors could serve as important areas for intervention for better treatment outcomes for alcohol use disorders.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Lähdepuro ◽  
Katri Savolainen ◽  
Marius Lahti-Pulkkinen ◽  
Johan G. Eriksson ◽  
Jari Lahti ◽  
...  

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. e0142228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo M. Pusceddu ◽  
Sahar El Aidy ◽  
Fiona Crispie ◽  
Orla O’Sullivan ◽  
Paul Cotter ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
V.A. Vokina

Long-term consequences of impaired perinatal development are very significant. They appear during the neonatal period and in the first years of life, and persist during ontogenesis. There is little data on the impact of any prenatal factors on the sensitivity of a sexually mature organism to medications. The aim of the study is to assess the impact of early life stress on the development of individual antidepressant sensitivity. Materials and Methods. The authors conducted the experiments on sexually mature outbred male rats. To simulate the early life stress, a standard protocol was used. From the 2nd to 15th days of the postnatal period the pup rats were separated from their mother for 3 hours and kept in an incubator. The open-field test, Porsolt test and Sucrose consumption test were used to determine rat’s anxiety level as well as motor, orientation and exploratory activity at puberty. Then, for 14 days, the rats were intragastrically administered with a fluoxetine solution (10 mg/kg/daily), followed by their full examination. Statistical analysis of results was performed using the Mann-Whitney U-test to compare unrelated groups and Wilcoxon's test to compare related groups. Results. Fluoxetine did not have a pronounced antidepressant effect in animals that survived the early life stress. Such animals demonstrated passive floating during the Porsolt test, without any changes in immobility time. When testing in an open field, a sharp increase in the number of freezing behavior was observed, which was an indicator of an increased anxiety level in animals. Conclusion. The results obtained indicate that the long-term effects of neonatal stress may be associated with a change in antidepressant sensitivity or an increase in development of unwanted adverse reactions. Keywords: early life stress, depression, antidepressants, fluoxetine, rats. Отдаленные последствия нарушения перинатального развития весьма значительны и не только проявляются в период новорожденности и в первые годы жизни, но и сохраняются в период онтогенеза. Данные о влиянии каких-либо пренатальных факторов на чувствительность половозрелого организма к действию лекарственных веществ в доступной литературе представлены незначительно. Цель исследования – оценить роль стресса раннего периода жизни в формировании индивидуальной чувствительности к действию антидепрессантов. Материалы и методы. Эксперименты проведены на половозрелых беспородных крысах-самцах. Для моделирования стресса раннего периода жизни использовали стандартный протокол, подразумевающий отделение детенышей от матери со 2-го по 15-й дни постнатального периода на 3 ч в условиях инкубатора. В половозрелом возрасте проводили оценку уровня тревожности, двигательной и ориентировочно-исследовательской активности крыс в условиях теста открытого поля, теста Порсолта и теста «Потребление раствора сахарозы». Затем в течение 14 дней крысам внутрижелудочно вводили раствор флуоксетина (10 мг/кг/сут), после чего обследование повторяли в том же объеме. Статистический анализ результатов исследования проводили с использованием U-критерия Манна–Уитни для сравнения несвязанных групп и критерия Вилкоксона для сравнения связанных групп. Результаты. У животных, переживших стресс раннего периода жизни, флуоксетин не оказывал выраженного антидепрессантного действия. У данных животных в тесте Порсолта преобладало пассивное плавание, без изменения длительности иммобильности. При тестировании в открытом поле наблюдалось резкое повышение числа актов фризинга, что является показателем повышенного уровня тревожности у животных. Выводы. Полученные результаты свидетельствуют о том, что отдаленные последствия неонатального стресса могут быть связанны с изменением чувствительности к действию антидепрессантов или повышением риска развития нежелательных побочных реакций. Ключевые слова: стресс раннего периода жизни, депрессия, антидепрессанты, флуоксетин, крысы.


2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Rincel ◽  
Muriel Darnaudéry

The developmental period constitutes a critical window of sensitivity to stress. Indeed, early-life adversity increases the risk to develop psychiatric diseases, but also gastrointestinal disorders such as the irritable bowel syndrome at adulthood. In the past decade, there has been huge interest in the gut–brain axis, especially as regards stress-related emotional behaviours. Animal models of early-life adversity, in particular, maternal separation (MS) in rodents, demonstrate lasting deleterious effects on both the gut and the brain. Here, we review the effects of MS on both systems with a focus on stress-related behaviours. In addition, we discuss more recent findings showing the impact of gut-directed interventions, including nutrition with pre- and probiotics, illustrating the role played by gut microbiota in mediating the long-term effects of MS. Overall, preclinical studies suggest that nutritional approaches with pro- and prebiotics may constitute safe and efficient strategies to attenuate the effects of early-life stress on the gut–brain axis. Further research is required to understand the complex mechanisms underlying gut–brain interaction dysfunctions after early-life stress as well as to determine the beneficial impact of gut-directed strategies in a context of early-life adversity in human subjects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsofia P. Cohen ◽  
Kelly T. Cosgrove ◽  
Danielle C. DeVille ◽  
Elisabeth Akeman ◽  
Manpreet K. Singh ◽  
...  

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on far-reaching consequences for adolescents. Adolescents with early life stress (ELS) may be at particular risk. We sought to examine how COVID-19 impacted psychological functioning in a sample of healthy and ELS-exposed adolescents during the pandemic.Methods: A total of 24 adolescents (15 healthy, nine ELS) completed self-report measures prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect of COVID-19 on symptoms of depression and anxiety were explored using linear mixed-effect analyses.Results: With the onset of the pandemic, healthy but not ELS-exposed adolescents evidenced increased symptoms of depression and anxiety (ps < 0.05). Coping by talking with friends and prioritizing sleep had a protective effect against anxiety for healthy adolescents (t = −3.76, p = 0.002).Conclusions: On average, this study demonstrated large increases in depression and anxiety in adolescents who were healthy prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, while ELS-exposed adolescents evidenced high but stable symptoms over time.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 7212
Author(s):  
Mayumi Nishi

Early-life stress during the prenatal and postnatal periods affects the formation of neural networks that influence brain function throughout life. Previous studies have indicated that maternal separation (MS), a typical rodent model equivalent to early-life stress and, more specifically, to child abuse and/or neglect in humans, can modulate the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, affecting subsequent neuronal function and emotional behavior. However, the neural basis of the long-lasting effects of early-life stress on brain function has not been clarified. In the present review, we describe the alterations in the HPA-axis activity—focusing on serum corticosterone (CORT)—and in the end products of the HPA axis as well as on the CORT receptor in rodents. We then introduce the brain regions activated during various patterns of MS, including repeated MS and single exposure to MS at various stages before weaning, via an investigation of c-Fos expression, which is a biological marker of neuronal activity. Furthermore, we discuss the alterations in behavior and gene expression in the brains of adult mice exposed to MS. Finally, we ask whether MS repeats itself and whether intergenerational transmission of child abuse and neglect is possible.


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