- Email: [email protected]
You smile, I smile? Automatic facial mimicry changes after psychosocial stress exposure in healthy young men and women
Abstracts / Psychoneuroendocrinology 71S (2016) 1–77
and their neurosteroid metabolites (Samples A and C: salivary E2 and P4; Sample B: serum E2, P4, and ALLO) and mood symptoms (depression, anxiety, felt social rejection, and anger) across one menstrual cycle. Women also reported on traumatic experiences at baseline (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in Samples A and C, comprehensive interview in Sample B). Rates of abuse were high (mean of 30%). Results: In samples A and B, multilevel models revealed that traumatic experiences amplified the prospective within-person association of steroid changes and daily mood symptoms (effect sizes medium-to-large). These effects of trauma on steroid-mood links were mediated by sensitivity to the GABAergic P4-derived neurosteroid allopregnanolone in Sample B. Data from Sample C, which includes women with BPD (n = 30) and MRMD (n = 30), are currently being assayed and processed; results from this sample will provide information about the generalizability of these effects in vulnerable clinical populations. Conclusions: Histories of trauma—particularly childhood and early adolescent trauma—are linked with mood vulnerability during periods of ovarian steroid change in late adolescence and adulthood. Funding: This work was supported by multiple grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (T32-MH093315, R01MH099076, R01-MH081837). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.07.149 Use of biomarkers in research on caregivers’ health: A systematic review Jumin Park ∗ , Margaret F. Bevans NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Park). Background: Assessment of biomarkers that reflect objective indicators of physiological processes has become increasingly popular when studying the impact of caregiving on health. However, documenting the clinical utility of selective biomarkers is in its infancy. Biomarkers are categorized as (1) prognostic, (2) predictive, or (3) monitoring biomarkers. The purpose of this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive summary regarding the use of biomarkers in family caregivers, and make recommendations for future research. Methods: A literature search of publications between 1990 and 2016 was conducted to identify studies reporting biomarkers among family caregivers of adult patients. Literature searches in PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, and Scopus were performed. Studies were evaluated based on comparison data between caregiver and control groups; relationships between biomarkers, and behavioral and psychological factors; and intervention impact. Results: The search revealed 46 studies examining 17 biomarkers from caregivers of adult patients with dementia (n = 31), cancer (n = 11), and others (n = 4). The studies reported mostly predictive (n = 38) and monitoring biomarkers (n = 8), no prognostic biomarkers. Biomarkers were categorized into seven categories: (a) sympathetic adrenal-medullary (SAM) axis activity (e.g., norepinephrine, epinephrine); (b) hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activity (e.g., cortisol); (c) immune function (e.g., inflammatory cytokines, C-reactive protein); (d) cellular aging (e.g., telomere length); (e) cardiovascular function (e.g., D-dimer); and (f) multidimensional indictors (e.g., allostatic load). The majority of predictive biomarkers represented immune function (27%), were sensitive to change between conditions of caregiver and control, and commonly associated with stress, depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance.
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The majority of monitoring biomarkers represented the HPA axis (55%) and were sensitive to pre-and post-intervention changes. Conclusions: The review demonstrated that biomarkers provide a way to predict caregivers’ behavioral and psychological health and potentially assess intervention efficacy. The clinical utility of biomarkers, however, in caregiver research requires further study. Inconsistencies in study design, specimen collection, and outcome selection make it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions. Biomarker collection procedures, the use of multidimensional indicators, larger sample sizes, and longitudinal design are critical for future research. Research including biomarkers may improve our understanding of the impact of caregiving on various health outcomes. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.07.150 You smile, I smile? Automatic facial mimicry changes after psychosocial stress exposure in healthy young men and women Jonas P. Nitschke 1,∗ , Cecile Sunahara 1 , Jens C. Pruessner 1,2 , Jennifer A. Bartz 1 1
McGill University, Montréal QC, Canada McGill Centre for Studies in Aging, Montreal, QC, Canada E-mail address: [email protected] (J.P. Nitschke). 2
Background: Mimicry, or imitating another’s behavior, is important for fostering social bonds through increased trust, perceived similarity and shared experience. Studies show that stress can influence various affiliative behaviours (e.g., empathy), with both enhancing and detrimental outcomes observed. One mechanism on how stress can impact mimicry behaviour could be through affiliative motivations, e.g. ‘tend and befriend’. Sex/gender effects have been shown to moderate the physiological and psychological stress response in humans, and have also been proposed as potential moderators for affiliation motives after stress. Given this, men and women might show differential effects on facial mimicry (as an affiliative mechanism) following stress. Here we aimed to understand the stress-mimicry relationship by investigating the effects of psychosocial stress on facial mimicry. Hypothesis: We predicted that exposure to acute psychosocial stress would affect automatic facial mimicry, and that sex/gender would moderate these effects. Methods: Healthy male (n = 25) and female (n = 25; late follicular phase of their menstrual cycle) participants completed a baseline mimicry assessment in which they were presented male and female smiling or frowning faces; fEMG was used to assess automatic facial mimicry (e.g., increased zygomaticus activity in response to smiling faces, or “smiling to smiles”). Three weeks later, participants returned to the laboratory and underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), followed by a post-stress facial mimicry task. Cortisol, salivary alpha amylase (sAA) and subjective stress were measured throughout the experiment. Results: All participants showed elevated cortisol, sAA and subjective stress levels after the TSST, indicating successful stress induction. Statistical analyses revealed a change in automatic facial mimicry after stress in both men and women. The stress marker cortisol was associated with changes in mimicry accuracy differentially for men and women.
58
Abstracts / Psychoneuroendocrinology 71S (2016) 1–77
Conclusions: Our results show that psychosocial stress can affect affiliative behaviours, such as mimicry, differentially in men and women. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.07.151 The impact of neuroendocrine stress response on cognitive emotion regulation Jérôme Rimpel ∗ , Sandra Schönfelder, Michèle Wessa University of Mainz, Germany E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Rimpel). Background: For humans it is a fundamental ability to deliberately regulate responses to emotional events in order to pursue goal-directed behavior and not be overwhelmed by emotions. As such, cognitive emotion regulation represents an active regulatory mechanism that adaptively and flexibly tunes reactions to emotional stimuli. Particularly, cognitive reappraisal has been widely shown to be one of the most effective emotion regulation strategies and linked to long-term positive outcome, i.e. mental and physical health. However, often enough effective emotion regulation fails in everyday life situations and recent research suggested that stress might be a key determinant in emotion regulation failure. To date, it is not well understood whether, and if so, to which extent cognitive reappraisal fails under acute stress and how different dynamics of neuroendocrine stress responses (catecholamines, corticosteroids) contribute to such impairments. Methods: To our knowledge, this is the first study that aimed to investigate the influence of acute stress on cognitive reappraisal on a behavioral, peripheral and neurophysiological level (electroencephalography, electromyography). In this study 45 healthy individuals were exposed to either a stress exposure (Trier Social Stress Test) or placebo control condition. Subsequently the participants were told to (a) reappraise (situation-focused reappraisal) and (b) passively view neutral and negative images while acquiring physiological data. To disentangle the effects of catecholamines and corticosteroids the experiment was divided into two parts (20 min each) in an attempt to cover both stress responses separately. In addition, neuroendocrine data was collected across five time points using saliva samples (alpha-amylase, cortisol). Results: The manipulation check displayed a significant increase in neuroendocrine stress response in the stress group compared to the control group. The analysis of behavioral, peripheral and neurophysiological data suggested that stress leads to an increase in negative emotion and thus lower reappraisal success. This is reflected by an increase of the late positive potential (LPP). Further, stress impeded the effectiveness of cognitive reappraisal, demonstrated by an increase in corrugator contraction and behavioral valence rating. The time course analysis of neuroendocrine data indicated that corticosteroids determine these effects. Conclusions: The results extend previous findings and provide a new approach by disentangling two possible contributions of acute stress on emotional reactivity and emotion regulation capacities. The changes in emotional reactivity and emotion regulation seem to be determined by the influence of corticosteroids.
Non-sexual interpersonal trauma and PTSD development Andrew Kimmel 1,∗ , Felicia Gould 1 , Raquel Kirmse 1 , Nicolette Gomez 1 , Kerry Ressler 2 , Charles Nemeroff 1 1
University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Kimmel). 2
Background: PTSD is associated with high medical costs, lost earnings, and diminished quality of life. It is important to identify the trauma types most likely to result in future PTSD symptomology. Although there is a well-known relationship between sexual assault and PTSD, less is known about non-sexual interpersonal trauma. We assessed patients admitted to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami who were exposed to various traumatic events as part of a larger prospective study of risk factors for PTSD. It was hypothesized that Interpersonal Trauma (IPT) would lead to a higher risk of PTSD development among members of our sample than other types of traumatic events. Methods: 87 adults, ages 18–65 years, exposed to a DSM-IV defined criterion A trauma within 24 h were enrolled. Baseline and 6-month follow-up data on symptoms, demographics and trauma type were used during the present analyses. PTSD symptoms were identified using the PTSD Symptom Scale (PSS). A Pearson Chisquare test was used to compare PTSD outcomes between IPT and Non-IPT groups. Results: At six months post-trauma 36.8% of participants met criteria for PTSD, with 50% of those who screened positive for PTSD having experienced an IPT. There was a significant relationship between IPT exposure and development of PTSD: X2 (1, N = 87) = 9.77, p < .001. Participants who experienced IPT were more likely to develop PTSD than those who experienced other types of trauma; PTSD rates for these groups were 61.5% and 26.2%, respectively. Conclusions: A high percentage of the participants fulfilled criteria for syndromal PTSD at six months post-trauma. Our results suggest that among our patient population, non-sexual IPT results in as greater likelihood of development of PTSD. In the interest of providing optimal, personalized care to patients, screening and assessment for interpersonal trauma is recommended. IPT victims should receive routine referral to mental health care providers experienced with the treatment of patients with IPT. Our findings fit within existing social-interpersonal models that highlight the importance of environmental and contextual factors during the development of a disorder. Acknowledgement: Funding for this research was supported by R01 MH-094757. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.07.153 LRPPRC genotype and cortisol: Predicting anxiety Nia Fogelman ∗ , Turhan Canli Stony Brook University, USA E-mail address: [email protected] (N. Fogelman).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.07.152 Background: Although anxiety disorders are prevalent in our society, the physiology contributing to them is not well understood. Recent pilot work in our laboratory based on postmortem amygdala from donors with known anxiety phenotypes has identified a novel gene associated with anxiety, leucine-rich pentratricopep-
and their neurosteroid metabolites (Samples A and C: salivary E2 and P4; Sample B: serum E2, P4, and ALLO) and mood symptoms (depression, anxiety, felt social rejection, and anger) across one menstrual cycle. Women also reported on traumatic experiences at baseline (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in Samples A and C, comprehensive interview in Sample B). Rates of abuse were high (mean of 30%). Results: In samples A and B, multilevel models revealed that traumatic experiences amplified the prospective within-person association of steroid changes and daily mood symptoms (effect sizes medium-to-large). These effects of trauma on steroid-mood links were mediated by sensitivity to the GABAergic P4-derived neurosteroid allopregnanolone in Sample B. Data from Sample C, which includes women with BPD (n = 30) and MRMD (n = 30), are currently being assayed and processed; results from this sample will provide information about the generalizability of these effects in vulnerable clinical populations. Conclusions: Histories of trauma—particularly childhood and early adolescent trauma—are linked with mood vulnerability during periods of ovarian steroid change in late adolescence and adulthood. Funding: This work was supported by multiple grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (T32-MH093315, R01MH099076, R01-MH081837). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.07.149 Use of biomarkers in research on caregivers’ health: A systematic review Jumin Park ∗ , Margaret F. Bevans NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Park). Background: Assessment of biomarkers that reflect objective indicators of physiological processes has become increasingly popular when studying the impact of caregiving on health. However, documenting the clinical utility of selective biomarkers is in its infancy. Biomarkers are categorized as (1) prognostic, (2) predictive, or (3) monitoring biomarkers. The purpose of this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive summary regarding the use of biomarkers in family caregivers, and make recommendations for future research. Methods: A literature search of publications between 1990 and 2016 was conducted to identify studies reporting biomarkers among family caregivers of adult patients. Literature searches in PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, and Scopus were performed. Studies were evaluated based on comparison data between caregiver and control groups; relationships between biomarkers, and behavioral and psychological factors; and intervention impact. Results: The search revealed 46 studies examining 17 biomarkers from caregivers of adult patients with dementia (n = 31), cancer (n = 11), and others (n = 4). The studies reported mostly predictive (n = 38) and monitoring biomarkers (n = 8), no prognostic biomarkers. Biomarkers were categorized into seven categories: (a) sympathetic adrenal-medullary (SAM) axis activity (e.g., norepinephrine, epinephrine); (b) hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activity (e.g., cortisol); (c) immune function (e.g., inflammatory cytokines, C-reactive protein); (d) cellular aging (e.g., telomere length); (e) cardiovascular function (e.g., D-dimer); and (f) multidimensional indictors (e.g., allostatic load). The majority of predictive biomarkers represented immune function (27%), were sensitive to change between conditions of caregiver and control, and commonly associated with stress, depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance.
57
The majority of monitoring biomarkers represented the HPA axis (55%) and were sensitive to pre-and post-intervention changes. Conclusions: The review demonstrated that biomarkers provide a way to predict caregivers’ behavioral and psychological health and potentially assess intervention efficacy. The clinical utility of biomarkers, however, in caregiver research requires further study. Inconsistencies in study design, specimen collection, and outcome selection make it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions. Biomarker collection procedures, the use of multidimensional indicators, larger sample sizes, and longitudinal design are critical for future research. Research including biomarkers may improve our understanding of the impact of caregiving on various health outcomes. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.07.150 You smile, I smile? Automatic facial mimicry changes after psychosocial stress exposure in healthy young men and women Jonas P. Nitschke 1,∗ , Cecile Sunahara 1 , Jens C. Pruessner 1,2 , Jennifer A. Bartz 1 1
McGill University, Montréal QC, Canada McGill Centre for Studies in Aging, Montreal, QC, Canada E-mail address: [email protected] (J.P. Nitschke). 2
Background: Mimicry, or imitating another’s behavior, is important for fostering social bonds through increased trust, perceived similarity and shared experience. Studies show that stress can influence various affiliative behaviours (e.g., empathy), with both enhancing and detrimental outcomes observed. One mechanism on how stress can impact mimicry behaviour could be through affiliative motivations, e.g. ‘tend and befriend’. Sex/gender effects have been shown to moderate the physiological and psychological stress response in humans, and have also been proposed as potential moderators for affiliation motives after stress. Given this, men and women might show differential effects on facial mimicry (as an affiliative mechanism) following stress. Here we aimed to understand the stress-mimicry relationship by investigating the effects of psychosocial stress on facial mimicry. Hypothesis: We predicted that exposure to acute psychosocial stress would affect automatic facial mimicry, and that sex/gender would moderate these effects. Methods: Healthy male (n = 25) and female (n = 25; late follicular phase of their menstrual cycle) participants completed a baseline mimicry assessment in which they were presented male and female smiling or frowning faces; fEMG was used to assess automatic facial mimicry (e.g., increased zygomaticus activity in response to smiling faces, or “smiling to smiles”). Three weeks later, participants returned to the laboratory and underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), followed by a post-stress facial mimicry task. Cortisol, salivary alpha amylase (sAA) and subjective stress were measured throughout the experiment. Results: All participants showed elevated cortisol, sAA and subjective stress levels after the TSST, indicating successful stress induction. Statistical analyses revealed a change in automatic facial mimicry after stress in both men and women. The stress marker cortisol was associated with changes in mimicry accuracy differentially for men and women.
58
Abstracts / Psychoneuroendocrinology 71S (2016) 1–77
Conclusions: Our results show that psychosocial stress can affect affiliative behaviours, such as mimicry, differentially in men and women. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.07.151 The impact of neuroendocrine stress response on cognitive emotion regulation Jérôme Rimpel ∗ , Sandra Schönfelder, Michèle Wessa University of Mainz, Germany E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Rimpel). Background: For humans it is a fundamental ability to deliberately regulate responses to emotional events in order to pursue goal-directed behavior and not be overwhelmed by emotions. As such, cognitive emotion regulation represents an active regulatory mechanism that adaptively and flexibly tunes reactions to emotional stimuli. Particularly, cognitive reappraisal has been widely shown to be one of the most effective emotion regulation strategies and linked to long-term positive outcome, i.e. mental and physical health. However, often enough effective emotion regulation fails in everyday life situations and recent research suggested that stress might be a key determinant in emotion regulation failure. To date, it is not well understood whether, and if so, to which extent cognitive reappraisal fails under acute stress and how different dynamics of neuroendocrine stress responses (catecholamines, corticosteroids) contribute to such impairments. Methods: To our knowledge, this is the first study that aimed to investigate the influence of acute stress on cognitive reappraisal on a behavioral, peripheral and neurophysiological level (electroencephalography, electromyography). In this study 45 healthy individuals were exposed to either a stress exposure (Trier Social Stress Test) or placebo control condition. Subsequently the participants were told to (a) reappraise (situation-focused reappraisal) and (b) passively view neutral and negative images while acquiring physiological data. To disentangle the effects of catecholamines and corticosteroids the experiment was divided into two parts (20 min each) in an attempt to cover both stress responses separately. In addition, neuroendocrine data was collected across five time points using saliva samples (alpha-amylase, cortisol). Results: The manipulation check displayed a significant increase in neuroendocrine stress response in the stress group compared to the control group. The analysis of behavioral, peripheral and neurophysiological data suggested that stress leads to an increase in negative emotion and thus lower reappraisal success. This is reflected by an increase of the late positive potential (LPP). Further, stress impeded the effectiveness of cognitive reappraisal, demonstrated by an increase in corrugator contraction and behavioral valence rating. The time course analysis of neuroendocrine data indicated that corticosteroids determine these effects. Conclusions: The results extend previous findings and provide a new approach by disentangling two possible contributions of acute stress on emotional reactivity and emotion regulation capacities. The changes in emotional reactivity and emotion regulation seem to be determined by the influence of corticosteroids.
Non-sexual interpersonal trauma and PTSD development Andrew Kimmel 1,∗ , Felicia Gould 1 , Raquel Kirmse 1 , Nicolette Gomez 1 , Kerry Ressler 2 , Charles Nemeroff 1 1
University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Kimmel). 2
Background: PTSD is associated with high medical costs, lost earnings, and diminished quality of life. It is important to identify the trauma types most likely to result in future PTSD symptomology. Although there is a well-known relationship between sexual assault and PTSD, less is known about non-sexual interpersonal trauma. We assessed patients admitted to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami who were exposed to various traumatic events as part of a larger prospective study of risk factors for PTSD. It was hypothesized that Interpersonal Trauma (IPT) would lead to a higher risk of PTSD development among members of our sample than other types of traumatic events. Methods: 87 adults, ages 18–65 years, exposed to a DSM-IV defined criterion A trauma within 24 h were enrolled. Baseline and 6-month follow-up data on symptoms, demographics and trauma type were used during the present analyses. PTSD symptoms were identified using the PTSD Symptom Scale (PSS). A Pearson Chisquare test was used to compare PTSD outcomes between IPT and Non-IPT groups. Results: At six months post-trauma 36.8% of participants met criteria for PTSD, with 50% of those who screened positive for PTSD having experienced an IPT. There was a significant relationship between IPT exposure and development of PTSD: X2 (1, N = 87) = 9.77, p < .001. Participants who experienced IPT were more likely to develop PTSD than those who experienced other types of trauma; PTSD rates for these groups were 61.5% and 26.2%, respectively. Conclusions: A high percentage of the participants fulfilled criteria for syndromal PTSD at six months post-trauma. Our results suggest that among our patient population, non-sexual IPT results in as greater likelihood of development of PTSD. In the interest of providing optimal, personalized care to patients, screening and assessment for interpersonal trauma is recommended. IPT victims should receive routine referral to mental health care providers experienced with the treatment of patients with IPT. Our findings fit within existing social-interpersonal models that highlight the importance of environmental and contextual factors during the development of a disorder. Acknowledgement: Funding for this research was supported by R01 MH-094757. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.07.153 LRPPRC genotype and cortisol: Predicting anxiety Nia Fogelman ∗ , Turhan Canli Stony Brook University, USA E-mail address: [email protected] (N. Fogelman).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.07.152 Background: Although anxiety disorders are prevalent in our society, the physiology contributing to them is not well understood. Recent pilot work in our laboratory based on postmortem amygdala from donors with known anxiety phenotypes has identified a novel gene associated with anxiety, leucine-rich pentratricopep-