scholarly journals Impact of Stress on Epilepsy: Focus on Neuroinflammation—A Mini Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 4061
Author(s):  
Claudia Espinosa-Garcia ◽  
Helena Zeleke ◽  
Asheebo Rojas
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Preclinical Research ◽  
Acute And Chronic Stress ◽  
Outcome Severity ◽  
State Depression ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

Epilepsy, one of the most common neurological disorders worldwide, is characterized by recurrent seizures and subsequent brain damage. Despite strong evidence supporting a deleterious impact on seizure occurrence and outcome severity, stress is an overlooked component in people with epilepsy. With regard to stressor duration and timing, acute stress can be protective in epileptogenesis, while chronic stress often promotes seizure occurrence in epilepsy patients. Preclinical research suggests that chronic stress promotes neuroinflammation and leads to a depressive state. Depression is the most common psychiatric comorbidity in people with epilepsy, resulting in a poor quality of life. Here, we summarize studies investigating acute and chronic stress as a seizure trigger and an important factor that worsens epilepsy outcomes and psychiatric comorbidities. Mechanistic insight into the impact of stress on epilepsy may create a window of opportunity for future interventions targeting neuroinflammation-related disorders.

scholarly journals Differential Impact of Acute and Chronic Stress on CA1 Spatial Coding and Gamma Oscillations

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anupratap Tomar ◽  
Denis Polygalov ◽  
Thomas J. McHugh
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Gamma Oscillations ◽  
Spatial Coding ◽  
Acute And Chronic Stress ◽  
The Impact

Chronic and acute stress differentially affect behavior as well as the structural integrity of the hippocampus, a key brain region involved in cognition and memory. However, it remains unclear if and how the facilitatory effects of acute stress on hippocampal information coding are disrupted as the stress becomes chronic. To examine this, we compared the impact of acute and chronic stress on neural activity in the CA1 subregion of male mice subjected to a chronic immobilization stress (CIS) paradigm. We observed that following first exposure to stress (acute stress), the spatial information encoded in the hippocampus sharpened, and the neurons became increasingly tuned to the underlying theta oscillations in the local field potential (LFP). However, following repeated exposure to the same stress (chronic stress), spatial tuning was poorer and the power of both the slow-gamma (30–50 Hz) and fast-gamma (55–90 Hz) oscillations, which correlate with excitatory inputs into the region, decreased. These results support the idea that acute and chronic stress differentially affect neural computations carried out by hippocampal circuits and suggest that acute stress may improve cognitive processing.

scholarly journals Differential impact of acute and chronic stress on CA1 spatial coding and gamma oscillations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anupratap Tomar ◽  
Denis Polygalov ◽  
Thomas McHugh
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Gamma Oscillations ◽  
Spatial Coding ◽  
Acute And Chronic Stress ◽  
The Impact

AbstractChronic and acute stress differentially affect behaviour, as well as the structural integrity of the hippocampus, a key brain region involved in cognition and memory. However, it remains unclear if and how the facilitatory effects of acute stress on hippocampal information coding are disrupted as the stress becomes chronic. To examine this, we compared the impact of acute and chronic stress on neural activity in the CA1 subregion of male mice subjected to a chronic immobilization stress paradigm. We observed that following first exposure to stress (acute stress), the spatial information encoded in the hippocampus sharpened and the neurons became increasingly tuned to the underlying theta oscillation in the local field potential (LFP). However, following repeated exposure to same stress (chronic stress), spatial tuning was poorer and the power of both the slow-gamma (30-50 Hz) and fast-gamma (55-90 Hz) oscillations, which correlate with excitatory inputs into the region, decreased. These results support the idea that acute and chronic stress differentially affect neural computations carried out by hippocampal circuits and suggest that acute stress may improve cognitive processing.

scholarly journals Psychosocial Stress and Attitudes Toward Substance Use Among College Students: An Exploratory Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 338-348
Author(s):  
Dominique Kornely ◽  
Kameko Halfmann
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Adverse Childhood Experiences ◽  
Psychosocial Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Acute And Chronic Stress ◽  
Adverse Childhood ◽  
The Impact

Substance use occurs on college campuses nationwide and is among the top threats to college-student health. The present study aimed to explore the impact of stress on substance use attitudes. The independent variable was acute psychosocial stress, induced using the Trier Social Stress Test. We measured chronic stress using the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire. The Alcohol Purchase Task (i.e., alcohol demand, alcohol breakpoint, alcohol expenditure) and the Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events-Revised questionnaire (i.e., expected involvement with substances and expected benefits and consequences of using substances) were the dependent variables. We predicted that participants who completed the acute stress task would report greater attitudes toward substance use behaviors and this would be more pronounced for those with higher levels of chronic stress. Acute stress did not affect willingness to pay for alcohol, F(3, 85) = 0.55, p = .65, ηp2 = 0.02, or expected positive or negative consequences from engaging in substance use, F(3, 85) = 0.44, p = .73, ηp2 = 0.02. There was a small positive association between chronic stress, as measured by adverse childhood experiences, and expected use, ρ(89) = .22, p = .04. In exploratory analyses, we found expected positive benefits of substance use to be significantly associated with expected future involvement, whereas expected negative consequences of substance use was associated with expected future involvement. Our results imply that acute and chronic stress were not significant in predicting substance use behaviors. Rather, those who expect benefits are more likely to use substances.

scholarly journals Acute and chronic stress prevents responses to pain in zebrafish: evidence for stress-induced analgesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (14) ◽  
pp. jeb224527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack S. Thomson ◽  
Anthony G. Deakin ◽  
Andrew R. Cossins ◽  
Joseph W. Spencer ◽  
Iain S. Young ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Opioid Antagonist ◽  
Laboratory Procedure ◽  
Acute And Chronic Stress ◽  
Nociceptive Responses ◽  
As Stress ◽  
Swimming Trajectories ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTThe state of an animal prior to the application of a noxious stimulus can have a profound effect on their nociceptive threshold and subsequent behaviour. In mammals, the presence of acute stress preceding a painful event can have an analgesic effect whereas the presence of chronic stress can result in hyperalgesia. While considerable research has been conducted on the ability of stress to modulate mammalian responses to pain, relatively little is known about fish. This is of particular concern given that zebrafish (Danio rerio) are an extensively used model organism subject to a wide array of invasive procedures where the level of stress prior to experimentation could pose a major confounding factor. This study, therefore, investigated the impact of both acute and chronic stress on the behaviour of zebrafish subjected to a potentially painful laboratory procedure, the fin clip. In stress-free individuals, those subjected to the fin clip spent more time in the bottom of the tank, had reduced swimming speeds and less complex swimming trajectories; however, these behavioural changes were absent in fin-clipped fish that were first subject to either chronic or acute stress, suggesting the possibility of stress-induced analgesia (SIA). To test this, the opioid antagonist naloxone was administered to fish prior to the application of both the stress and fin-clip procedure. After naloxone, acutely stressed fin-clipped zebrafish exhibited the same behaviours as stress-free fin-clipped fish. This indicates the presence of SIA and the importance of opioid signalling in this mechanism. As stress reduced nociceptive responses in zebrafish, this demonstrates the potential for an endogenous analgesic system akin to the mammalian system. Future studies should delineate the neurobiological basis of stress-induced analgesia in fish.

An intervention study on the effectiveness of an anti-stress-app on psychophysiological acute and chronic stress (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Lautenbach
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Acute And Chronic Stress

BACKGROUND Dealing with stress is of central importance. Lately, smartphone applications (apps) are deployed in stress interventions as they offer maximal flexibility for users. First results of experimental studies show that anti-stress apps effect subjective perception of stress positively (Ly et al., 2014). However, current literature lacks studies on physiological stress reactions (e.g., cortisol), although they are of special interest to health issues. OBJECTIVE Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an anti-stress app in chronic and acute stress reduction on a physiological (cortisol) and psychological level (subjective perception of stress) in comparison to a face-to-face and a control group in a pre-post design, for the first time. METHODS Sixty-two participants took part in the pretesting procedure (drop-out of 53 %). Based on age, gender, physical activity and subjectively perceived acute stress due to the Trier Social Stress Test for groups (TSST-G; von Dawans et al., 2011) as well as based on subjectively chronic stress assessed during the pretest, participants were parallelized in three groups (anti-stress-app: n = 10, face-to-face: n = 11, control group: n = 9). RESULTS After six weeks of the cognitive-based resource-oriented intervention, participants were exposed to the TSST-G for post testing. Results did not show a change of cortisol secretion or cognitive appraisal of the acute stressor. Further, no changes were detected in the chronic physiological stress reaction. CONCLUSIONS Possible causes are discussed extensively. CLINICALTRIAL no

scholarly journals Quality of care in the free maternal healthcare era in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review of providers’ and managers’ perceptions

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Ansu-Mensah ◽  
Frederick Inkum Danquah ◽  
Vitalis Bawontuo ◽  
Peter Ansu-Mensah ◽  
Tahiru Mohammed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Care ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Healthcare Financing ◽  
Maternal Healthcare ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Free maternal healthcare financing schemes play an essential role in the quality of services rendered to clients during antenatal care in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, healthcare managers’ and providers’ perceptions of the healthcare financing scheme may influence the quality of care. This scoping review mapped evidence on managers’ and providers’ perspectives of free maternal healthcare and the quality of care in SSA. Methods We used Askey and O’Malley’s framework as a guide to conduct this review. To address the research question, we searched PubMed, CINAHL through EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Google Scholar with no date limitation to May 2019 using keywords, Boolean terms, and Medical Subject Heading terms to retrieve relevant articles. Both abstract and full articles screening were conducted independently by two reviewers using the inclusion and exclusion criteria as a guide. All significant data were extracted, organized into themes, and a summary of the findings reported narratively. Results In all, 15 out of 390 articles met the inclusion criteria. These 15 studies were conducted in nine countries. That is, Ghana (4), Kenya (3), and Nigeria (2), Burkina Faso (1), Burundi (1), Niger (1), Sierra Leone (1), Tanzania (1), and Uganda (1). Of the 15 included studies, 14 reported poor quality of maternal healthcare from managers’ and providers’ perspectives. Factors contributing to the perception of poor maternal healthcare included: late reimbursement of funds, heavy workload of providers, lack of essential drugs and stock-out of medical supplies, lack of policy definition, out-of-pocket payment, and inequitable distribution of staff. Conclusion This study established evidence of existing literature on the quality of care based on healthcare providers’ and managers’ perspectives though very limited. This study indicates healthcare providers and managers perceive the quality of maternal healthcare under the free financing policy as poor. Nonetheless, the free maternal care policy is very much needed towards achieving universal health, and all efforts to sustain and improve the quality of care under it must be encouraged. Therefore, more research is needed to better understand the impact of their perceived poor quality of care on maternal health outcomes.

scholarly journals Scoping review of mental health in prisons through the COVID-19 pandemic

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e046547
Author(s):  
Luke Johnson ◽  
Kerry Gutridge ◽  
Julie Parkes ◽  
Anjana Roy ◽  
Emma Plugge
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Prison Staff ◽  
The Impact

ObjectiveTo examine the extent, nature and quality of literature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of imprisoned people and prison staff.DesignScoping review.Data sourcesPubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Global Health, Cochrane, PsycINFO, PsychExtra, Web of Science and Scopus were searched for any paper from 2019 onwards that focused on the mental health impact of COVID-19 on imprisoned people and prison staff. A grey literature search focused on international and government sources and professional bodies representing healthcare, public health and prison staff was also performed. We also performed hand searching of the reference lists of included studies.Eligibility criteria for selection of studiesAll papers, regardless of study design, were included if they examined the mental health of imprisoned people or prison staff specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Imprisoned people could be of any age and from any countries. All languages were included. Two independent reviewers quality assessed appropriate papers.ResultsOf 647 articles found, 83 were eligible for inclusion, the majority (58%) of which were opinion pieces. The articles focused on the challenges to prisoner mental health. Fear of COVID-19, the impact of isolation, discontinuation of prison visits and reduced mental health services were all likely to have an adverse effect on the mental well-being of imprisoned people. The limited research and poor quality of articles included mean that the findings are not conclusive. However, they suggest a significant adverse impact on the mental health and well-being of those who live and work in prisons.ConclusionsIt is key to address the mental health impacts of the pandemic on people who live and work in prisons. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for getting the balance between infection control imperatives and the fundamental human rights of prison populations.

scholarly journals The impact of chronic stress and eating types on active ghrelin levels in response to acute stress

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (OCE2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Fahrngruber ◽  
Kalina Duszka ◽  
Jürgen König
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Eating Behavior ◽  
Social Stress ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Trier Social Stress Test ◽  
Relaxation Techniques ◽  
Stress Exposure ◽  
The Impact

AbstractChronic stress is associated with impacting eating behavior, namely food choice and energy intake, with a shift towards more palatable and energy dense foods. Additionally, eating behavior is influenced by other psychological factors like mood and emotions. The categorization of people into eating types such as restrained, emotional, and external eaters has gained attraction. Reported changes in eating behavior due to psychological stress are only occasionally accompanied by measures of physiological hunger through ghrelin. The primary objective of this study was to investigate how chronic stress and acute cortisol reactivity affect active ghrelin secretion and how these outcomes account for different eating types. 16 healthy, young males (age: 23 ± 3 years, BMI: 22.5 ± 1.3kg/m2) with low (n = 8) and average-to-high (n = 8) chronic stress level were subjected to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a control version on two separate days. Active ghrelin, cortisol, glucose, and heart rate were measured throughout the test. Subjects rated their hunger by means of visual analog scale and current mood was assessed with the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). In addition, participants filled out the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) to account for their subjective eating behavior. Overall ghrelin values where higher on the test day compared to the control day. Ghrelin values were also higher during the time leading up to the stress or control test (TSST) than during the conclusion of said tests. On both days, mean values for active ghrelin where higher in individuals with low chronic stress exposure compare to those with average-to-high chronic stress exposure. While values from test to control day decreased for lower stressed participants, they slightly increased for higher stressed participants. Cortisol responders displayed higher ghrelin values on test day than cortisol non-responders, but this association inverted for the control day. Results indicate that chronic stress influences acute stress response and further alters active ghrelin production, which in turn can influence eating behavior. Replication in a greater group of participants of differing weight and sex could yield a greater understanding of stress induced eating. Factors such as relaxation techniques and coping mechanisms could further improve our knowledge and evaluate treatment possibilities.

scholarly journals Impact of the severity of restrictive spirometric pattern on nutrition, physical activity, and quality of life: results from a nationally representative database

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung Jun Chung ◽  
Hwan Il Kim ◽  
Bumhee Yang ◽  
Taehee Kim ◽  
Yun Su Sim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
General Health ◽  
Multivariable Analysis ◽  
Caloric Intake ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Five Dimensions ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe general disease burden associated with the restrictive spirometric pattern (RSP) is substantial. However, the impact of RSP by its severity on general health problems and quality of life has not been well elucidated. This study aimed to analyse nutrition, physical activity, and quality of life in subjects who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007–2016 according to severity of RSP. Participants were classified as subjects with normal spirometry, those with mild-to-moderate RSP, and those with severe RSP. Poor quality of life was defined as 25th percentile value on the EuroQoL five dimensions (Eq5D) questionnaire index, i.e., 0.90. This study included 23,615 subjects composed of 20,742 with normal spirometry, 2758 with mild-to-moderate RSP, and 115 with severe RSP. The subjects with severe RSP were more likely to have attained lower education levels, had a lower total caloric intake, had less physical activity, had experienced a higher prevalence of comorbidities, and poorer quality of life than those with normal spirometry (P < 0.001 for all). In multivariable analysis, subjects with a mild-to-moderate RSP and severe RSP were more likely to show decreased total calories (coefficient for change in calorie = − 56.6 kcal and − 286.7 kcal, respectively) than those with normal spirometry; subjects with mild-to-moderate RSP and those with severe RSP were 1.26 times and 1.96 times more likely, respectively, to have a poorer quality of life than those with normal spirometry. Additionally, subjects with mild-to-moderate RSP and those with severe RSP were 0.84 times and 0.36 times less likely, respectively, to have high-intensity physical activity than those with normal spirometry in univariable analysis. The trends of a poorer quality of life and physical activity were only significant in the male subgroups. In conclusion, our study revealed that the severity of general health problems and quality of life reductions are correlated with the severity of RSP, especially in males.

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