The association between recent stressful life events and brain structure: a UK Biobank longitudinal MRI study.

IF 7.2 2区医学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY

European Psychiatry Pub Date : 2025-01-21 DOI:10.1192/j.eurpsy.2025.2

Cheryl R Z See, Annabel X Tan, Lucia R Valmaggia, Matthew J Kempton

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Recent stressful life events (SLEs) are an established risk factor for a range of psychiatric disorders. Animal studies have shown evidence of gray matter (GM) reductions associated with stress, and previous work has found similar associations in humans. However longitudinal studies investigating the association between stress and changes in brain structure are limited.

Methods: The current study uses longitudinal data from the UK Biobank and comprises 4,543 participants with structural neuroimaging and recent SLE data (mean age = 61.5 years). We analyzed the association between recent SLEs and changes in brain structure, determined using the longitudinal FreeSurfer pipeline, focusing on total GM volume and five a priori brain regions: the hippocampus, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and insula. We also examined if depression and childhood adversity moderated the relationship between SLEs and brain structure.

Results: Individuals who had experienced recent SLEs exhibited a slower rate of hippocampal decrease over time compared to individuals who did not report any SLEs. Individuals with depression exhibited smaller GM volumes when exposed to recent SLEs. There was no effect of childhood adversity on the relationship between SLEs and brain structure.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest recent SLEs are not directly associated with an accelerated decline in brain volumes in a population sample of older adults, but instead may alter brain structure via affective disorder psychopathology. Further work is needed to investigate the effects of stress in younger populations who may be more vulnerable to stress-induced changes, and may yet pinpoint brain regions linked to stress-related disorders.

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近期压力生活事件与大脑结构之间的联系：英国生物库纵向MRI研究。

背景：最近的应激性生活事件（SLEs）是一系列精神疾病的一个确定的危险因素。动物研究已经显示出灰质（GM）减少与压力有关的证据，之前的研究也在人类身上发现了类似的关联。然而，调查压力和大脑结构变化之间关系的纵向研究是有限的。方法：目前的研究使用来自UK Biobank的纵向数据，包括4,543名参与者，他们具有结构神经影像学和最近的SLE数据（平均年龄= 61.5岁）。我们分析了近期SLEs与脑结构变化之间的关系，使用纵向FreeSurfer管道确定，重点关注GM总体积和五个先验脑区域：海马、杏仁核、前扣带皮层、眶额皮质和脑岛。我们还研究了抑郁和童年逆境是否会调节SLEs和大脑结构之间的关系。结果：与没有经历过SLEs的个体相比，最近经历过SLEs的个体随着时间的推移表现出较慢的海马下降速度。抑郁症患者在暴露于最近的SLEs时表现出较小的GM体积。童年逆境对SLEs与大脑结构的关系没有影响。结论：我们的研究结果表明，最近的SLEs与老年人人群样本中脑容量的加速下降没有直接关系，而是可能通过情感障碍精神病理学改变大脑结构。需要进一步的工作来调查压力对年轻人群的影响，他们可能更容易受到压力引起的变化的影响，并可能确定与压力相关疾病相关的大脑区域。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

European Psychiatry 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

8.50

自引率

3.80%

发文量

2338

审稿时长

4.5 weeks

期刊介绍： European Psychiatry, the official journal of the European Psychiatric Association, is dedicated to sharing cutting-edge research, policy updates, and fostering dialogue among clinicians, researchers, and patient advocates in the fields of psychiatry, mental health, behavioral science, and neuroscience. This peer-reviewed, Open Access journal strives to publish the latest advancements across various mental health issues, including diagnostic and treatment breakthroughs, as well as advancements in understanding the biological foundations of mental, behavioral, and cognitive functions in both clinical and general population studies.