| 1. |
- Lasselin, Julie, et al.
(författare)
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Communication of health in experimentally sick men and women : A pilot study
- 2018
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 87, s. 188-195
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The way people communicate their ill-health and the factors involved in ill-health communication remain poorly known. In the present study, we tested how men and women communicate their sickness and assessed whether sickness-related variables (i.e., body temperature, immune response, subjective sickness symptoms) predicted communicative behaviors. Twenty-two participants were filmed during experimentally induced sickness, triggered by lipopolysaccharide administration (2ng/kg body weight), and after placebo administration, in presence of female care providers. Two trained raters scored participants' communicative behaviors (verbal complaints, moaning and sighs/deep breaths). The physiological and subjective sickness responses were similar in both sexes. Participants were more likely to moan and complain when sick, although the frequency of these behaviors remained low and no clear sex differences was observed. Nevertheless, frequency of sighs/deep breaths was increased amongst sick men but not in women. Sickness-related variables did not predict sigh/deep breath frequency. In this setting, sick men appear to display a lower threshold of expressing their malaise as compared to similarly sick women.
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| 2. |
- Schwarz, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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Does sleep deprivation increase the vulnerability to acute psychosocial stress in young and older adults?
- 2018
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 96, s. 155-165
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sleep loss and psychosocial stress often co-occur in today’s society, but there is limited knowledge on the combined effects. Therefore, this experimental study investigated whether one night of sleep deprivation affects the response to a psychosocial challenge. A second aim was to examine if older adults, who may be less affected by both sleep deprivation and stress, react differently than young adults. 124 young (18–30 years) and 94 older (60–72 years) healthy adults participated in one of four conditions: i. normal night sleep & Placebo-Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), ii. normal night sleep & Trier Social Stress Test, iii. sleep deprivation & Placebo-TSST, iv. sleep deprivation & TSST. Subjective stress ratings, heart rate variability (HRV), salivary alpha amylase (sAA) and cortisol were measured throughout the protocol. At the baseline pre-stress measurement, salivary cortisol and subjective stress values were higher in sleep deprived than in rested participants. However, the reactivity to and recovery from the TSST was not significantly different after sleep deprivation for any of the outcome measures. Older adults showed higher subjective stress, higher sAA and lower HRV at baseline, indicating increased basal autonomic activity. Cortisol trajectories and HRV slightly differed in older adults compared with younger adults (regardless of the TSST). Moreover, age did not moderate the effect of sleep deprivation. Taken together, the results show increased stress levels after sleep deprivation, but do not confirm the assumption that one night of sleep deprivation increases the responsivity to an acute psychosocial challenge.
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| 3. |
- Balter, Leonie J. T., et al.
(författare)
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Lipopolysaccharide-induced changes in the kynurenine pathway and symptoms of sickness behavior in humans
- 2023
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 153
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Metabolites of the kynurenine pathway are hypothesized to be implicated in inflammation-associated depression, but there is a lack of experimental studies in humans assessing the kinetics of kynurenine metabolites in relation to experimentally-induced sickness. The aim of the present study was to assess changes in the kynurenine pathway and to explore its relation to symptoms of sickness behavior during an acute experimental immune challenge.This double-blind placebo-controlled randomized cross-over study included 22 healthy human participants (n = 21 both sessions, Mage = 23.4, SD = 3.6, nine women) who received an intravenous injection of 2.0 ng/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and saline (placebo) on two different occasions in a randomized order. Blood samples (0 h, 1 h, 1.5 h, 2 h, 3 h, 4 h, 5 h, 7 h post-injection) were analyzed for kynurenine metabolites and inflammatory cytokines. The intensity of symptoms of sickness behavior was assessed using the 10-item Sickness Questionnaire at 0 h, 1.5 h, 3 h, 5 h, and 7 h post-injection.LPS induced significantly lower concentrations of plasma tryptophan (at 2 h, 4 h, 5 h, and 7 h post-injection), kynurenine (at 2 h, 3 h, 4 h, and 5 h post-injection), nicotinamide (at 4 h, 5 h, and 7 h post-injection), and higher levels for quinolinic acid at 5 h post-injection as compared to placebo. LPS did not affect kynurenic acid, 3-hydroxykynurenine, and picolinic acid. The development of the sickness symptoms was largely similar across items, with the highest levels around 1.5–3 h post-injection. Changes in plasma levels of kynurenine metabolites seem to coincide rather than precede or follow changes in subjective sickness. Exploratory analyses indicate that higher Sickness Questionnaire total scores at 1.5–5 h post-injection were correlated with lower kynurenic acid and nicotinamide levels.These results lend further support for LPS-induced changes in the kynurenine pathway, but may not, as interpreted from blood levels, causally link to LPS-induced acute symptoms of sickness behavior. Future research may consider a larger sample to further scrutinize the role of the kynurenine pathway in the sickness response.
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| 4. |
- Cooray, Gerald, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of intensified metabolic control on CNS function in type 2 diabetes
- 2011
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 36:1, s. 77-86
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The mild cognitive decline associated with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) has been suggested to be reversible with improved glycemic control. In order to characterise this cognitive decline and study the effects of improved glycemic control we have studied patients with T2DM (N = 28) and healthy control subjects (N = 21). One group of patients with diabetes (N = 15) were given a 2-month treatment of intensified glycemic control, whereas the other group (N = 13) maintained their regular treatment.Cognitive function in four different domains, auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) and resting EEG power spectrum were studied in the two groups of patients and in healthy control subjects before and after the 2-month trial period.There were significant differences at baseline (p < 0.02) between patients with T2DM and controls. Patients had lower scores in two cognitive domains: verbal fluency (p < 0.01) and visuospatial ability (p < 0.03). T2DM also affected ERP with a decrease in N100 amplitude (p < 0.04) and an increase in P300 latency (p < 0.03). Furthermore, resting EEG activity in the beta band (13–30 Hz) was reduced (p < 0.04). The change between 1st and 2nd investigation was significantly different in the three groups of patients/subjects (p < 0.03). Patients receiving intensified treatment for glycemic control had an improvement of cognitive ability in visuospatial ability (p < 0.02) and semantic memory performance (p < 0.04) together with increased resting EEG activity in the alpha band (8–13 Hz, p < 0.02) and connectivity in the theta (4–8 Hz, p < 0.03) and alpha bands (p < 0.03) over central and lateral regions. Furthermore, there was an increase in the connectivity in the beta band (p < 0.04) over the central regions of the scalp.In conclusion, subjects with T2DM had a similar type of cognitive function impairment and EEG/ERP abnormality as previously demonstrated for subjects with type 1 diabetes (T1DM). Intensified therapy showed cognitive improvement not shown for regular treatment, suggesting that the negative effect of T2DM on cognition is reversible by means of improved glycemic control. Furthermore, there was an improvement in electro-physiological measures, suggesting increased availability of compensatory mechanisms in subjects with intensified treatment.
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| 5. |
- Ebner, Natalie C., et al.
(författare)
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Oxytocin’s effect on resting-state functional connectivity varies by age and sex
- 2016
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 69, s. 50-59
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The neuropeptide oxytocin plays a role in social cognition and affective processing. The neural processes underlying these effects are not well understood. Modulation of connectivity strength between subcortical and cortical regions has been suggested as one possible mechanism. The current study investigated effects of intranasal oxytocin administration on resting-state functional connectivity between amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), as two regions involved in social-cognitive and affective processing. Going beyond previous work that largely examined young male participants, our study comprised young and older men and women to identify age and sex variations in oxytocin’s central processes. This approach was based on known hormonal differences among these groups and emerging evidence of sex differences in oxytocin’s effects on amygdala reactivity and age-by-sex-modulated effects of oxytocin in affective processing. In a double-blind design, 79 participants were randomly assigned to self-administer either intranasal oxytocin or placebo before undergoing resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Using a targeted region-to-region approach, resting-state functional connectivity strength between bilateral amygdala and mPFC was examined. Participants in the oxytocin compared to the placebo group and men compared to women had overall greater amygdala–mPFC connectivity strength at rest. These main effects were qualified by a significant three-way interaction: while oxytocin compared to placebo administration increased resting-state amygdala–mPFC connectivity for young women, oxytocin did not significantly influence connectivity in the other age-by-sex subgroups. This study provides novel evidence of age-by-sex differences in how oxytocin modulates resting-state brain connectivity, furthering our understanding of how oxytocin affects brain networks at rest.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Graham, Bronwyn M., et al.
(författare)
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The association between estradiol levels, hormonal contraceptive use, an responsiveness to one-session-treatment for spider phobia in women
- 2018
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 90, s. 134-140
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Preclinical studies have demonstrated that conditioned fear extinction is impaired in females with low endogenous levels of the sex hormone estradiol, due to menstrual fluctuations or hormonal contraceptive use. As fear extinction is a laboratory model of exposure therapy for anxiety and trauma disorders, here we assessed the hypothesis that treatment outcomes may be diminished when exposure therapy occurs during periods of low estradiol. 90 women with spider phobia (60 cycling and 30 using hormonal contraceptives) underwent a one session exposure treatment for spider phobia, following which, serum estradiol levels were assessed. A median split in estradiol level was used to divide cycling participants into two groups; lower and higher estradiol. Behavioral avoidance and self-reported fear of spiders were measured pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at a 12 week follow-up assessment. Women using hormonal contraceptives exhibited a significantly slower rate of improvement across treatment, greater behavioral avoidance at post-treatment and follow-up, and fewer self initiated post-treatment exposure tasks, relative to both groups of cycling women, who did not differ. No group differences in self-reported fear were evident. Correlational analyses revealed that across the whole sample, lower estradiol levels were associated with slower rates of improvement across treatment, and greater self reported fear and behavioral avoidance at post-treatment, but not follow-up. These results provide the first evidence of an association between endogenous estradiol, hormonal contraceptive use, and exposure therapy outcomes in spider phobic women. Hormonal profile may partly account for variability in responsiveness to psychological treatments for anxiety and trauma disorders in women.
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| 8. |
- Han, Laura K. M., et al.
(författare)
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Accelerating research on biological aging and mental health : Current challenges and future directions
- 2019
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 106, s. 293-311
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aging is associated with complex biological changes that can be accelerated, slowed, or even temporarily reversed by biological and non-biological factors. This article focuses on the link between biological aging, psychological stressors, and mental illness. Rather than comprehensively reviewing this rapidly expanding field, we highlight challenges in this area of research and propose potential strategies to accelerate progress in this field. This effort requires the interaction of scientists across disciplines - including biology, psychiatry, psychology, and epidemiology; and across levels of analysis that emphasize different outcome measures - functional capacity, physiological, cellular, and molecular. Dialogues across disciplines and levels of analysis naturally lead to new opportunities for discovery but also to stimulating challenges. Some important challenges consist of 1) establishing the best objective and predictive biological age indicators or combinations of indicators, 2) identifying the basis for inter-individual differences in the rate of biological aging, and 3) examining to what extent interventions can delay, halt or temporarily reverse aging trajectories. Discovering how psychological states influence biological aging, and vice versa, has the potential to create novel and exciting opportunities for healthcare and possibly yield insights into the fundamental mechanisms that drive human aging.
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| 9. |
- Jonsjö, Martin A., et al.
(författare)
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The role of low-grade inflammation in ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) : associations with symptoms
- 2020
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 113
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) often present with a range of flu-like symptoms resembling sickness behavior as well as widespread pain and concentration deficits. The aim of this study was to explore the association between inflammatory markers previously shown to be related to fatigue severity in ME/CFS and common ME/CFS symptoms post-exertional fatigue, impaired cognitive processing, musculoskeletal pain and recurrent flu-like symptoms, and the moderating effect of sex on these associations. Methods: 53 adult patients diagnosed with ME/CFS at a specialist clinic were included in the study. Fasting blood plasma was analyzed using the Olink Proseek Multiplex Inflammation panel (beta-NGF, CCL11, CXCL1, CXCL10, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-18, TGF-alpha, TGF-beta-1 and SCF) and BioRad Human Cytokine Type 1 assay (TNF-alpha). Participants rated the average severity of symptoms (0-10) based on the 2011 International Consensus Criteria of ME/CFS during a structured clinical interview. Associations between inflammatory markers and symptom severity were analyzed using bivariate correlations and moderated regression analyses bootstrapped with 5000 repetitions. Results and conclusions: Only beta-NGF was associated with the fatigue severity measure. However, higher levels of CCL11, CXCL10, IL-7, TNF-alpha and TGF-beta-1 were significantly associated with higher levels of impaired cognitive processing and musculoskeletal pain, and sex was a significant moderator for CXCL10, IL-7 and TGF-beta-1. Future studies should investigate the relationship between inflammatory markers and key symptoms in ME/CFS in a longitudinal design in order to explore if and for whom low-grade inflammation may contribute to illness development.
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| 10. |
- Lindqvist, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
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Plasma circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA in social anxiety disorder
- 2022
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Ingår i: Psychoneuroendocrinology. - : Elsevier. - 0306-4530 .- 1873-3360. ; 148
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To investigate plasma levels of circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA (ccf-mtDNA) in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and healthy controls (HC).METHODS: In this study, 88 participants (46 patients with SAD and 42 HCs) were enrolled and both ccf-mtDNA and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) mtDNA copy number (mtDNA-cn) were measured at up to three times per individual (9-11 weeks apart). SAD patients also received cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) between the second and third time-point.RESULTS: SAD patients had significantly lower ccf-mtDNA compared to HCs at all time points, but ccf-mtDNA did not change significantly after CBT, and was not associated with severity of anxiety symptoms. Plasma ccf-mtDNA did not significantly correlate with PBMC mtDNA-cn in patients.CONCLUSION: This is the first report of lower ccf-mtDNA in patients with an anxiety disorder. Our findings could reflect a more chronic illness course in SAD patients with prolonged periods of psychological stress leading to decreased levels of ccf-mtDNA, but future longitudinal studies are needed to confirm or refute this hypothesis.
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