Physiology & BehaviorPub Date : 2025-11-01Epub Date: 2025-08-05DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115045
Yifan Zhao, Chengshi Li, Yibo Jiang, Hongge Jia
{"title":"Eyes tell all: Dissecting attentional bias in social anxiety through emotional faces.","authors":"Yifan Zhao, Chengshi Li, Yibo Jiang, Hongge Jia","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115045","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115045","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The present study employed eye-tracking technology and a free-viewing paradigm to explore the mechanisms of attentional bias toward emotional faces in individuals with social anxiety, using real and cartoon faces (angry, happy, disgusted, neutral) as stimuli. In Experiment 1, socially anxious individuals demonstrated significantly reduced total fixation duration and count on the eye regions of all four emotional face types presented by real people compared to controls. They also showed shorter fixation durations and fewer fixations on the facial area associated with disgust for real faces. In Experiment 2, both groups had longer total fixation duration and higher fixation counts on happy and neutral faces than on angry and disgusted faces. The findings suggest that attentional avoidance in socially anxious individuals is pronounced for the eye regions of real emotional faces, including positive ones, but not for cartoon faces. This indicates that attentional bias in social anxiety is influenced by both emotional and non-emotional social information in faces.</p>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":" ","pages":"115045"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144789743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Physiology & BehaviorPub Date : 2025-11-01Epub Date: 2025-08-06DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115058
Daniellen Cristhine Castro Alves, Leandro Vaz Toffoli, Wyllian Rafael Silva, Viviane Batista Estrada, Luiz Fernando Veríssimo, Ana Paula Franco Punhagui, Rafaela Pires Erthal, Maria Vitória Oliveira Miguel, Marcus Vinicius de Matos Gomes, Glaura Scantamburlo Alves Fernandes, Gislaine Garcia Pelosi
{"title":"Chronic restraint stress associations with sperm global DNA hypermethylation: Impacts on male reproductive function in rats.","authors":"Daniellen Cristhine Castro Alves, Leandro Vaz Toffoli, Wyllian Rafael Silva, Viviane Batista Estrada, Luiz Fernando Veríssimo, Ana Paula Franco Punhagui, Rafaela Pires Erthal, Maria Vitória Oliveira Miguel, Marcus Vinicius de Matos Gomes, Glaura Scantamburlo Alves Fernandes, Gislaine Garcia Pelosi","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115058","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115058","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent evidence indicates the involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in the adaptive biological responses to chronic restraint stress. However, the impact of stress on the epigenetic programming of germ cells and subsequent effects on reproductive capacity remain understudied. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of chronic restraint stress in sperm global DNA methylation and male reproductive function in Wistar rats. The animals were separated into two groups: the chronic restraint stress group (14 sessions) and the control group. After the final stress session, tissues of all the animals were collected for analysis. The stress group exhibited global sperm DNA hypermethylation (p = 0.0095), reduced sperm motility (p = 0.0079), increased sperm abnormalities (p = 0.0159), increased abnormal seminiferous tubules (p = 0.0159), and histopathological abnormalities in the epididymis. In addition, chronic restraint stress induced epididymal tissue reorganization in the caput region, and altered spermatogenic stages. There was a reduction of relative empty vesicle weight (p = 0.0317) and prostate (p = 0.0079). Sperm counts were decreased in the testis (p = 0.0317), in the caput /corpus of the epididymis (p = 0.0285) and cauda (p = 0.0159). These findings suggest that chronic stress can adversely affect male reproductive parameters, suggesting a vulnerability in the epigenetic programming of sperm to stress.</p>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":" ","pages":"115058"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144804625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Physiology & BehaviorPub Date : 2025-11-01Epub Date: 2025-07-25DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115037
Mary Elizabeth Baugh, Monica L Ahrens, Amber K Burns, Rhianna M Sullivan, Abigail N Valle, Alexandra L Hanlon, Alexandra G DiFeliceantonio
{"title":"Metrics of glycemic control but not body weight influence flavor nutrient conditioning in humans.","authors":"Mary Elizabeth Baugh, Monica L Ahrens, Amber K Burns, Rhianna M Sullivan, Abigail N Valle, Alexandra L Hanlon, Alexandra G DiFeliceantonio","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115037","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115037","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The modern food landscape, marked by a rising prevalence of highly refined, ultra-processed, and highly palatable foods, combined with genetic and environmental susceptibilities, is widely considered a key factor driving obesity at the population level. Gaining insight into the physiological and behavioral mechanisms that shape food preferences and choices is crucial for understanding obesity's development and informing prevention strategies. One factor influencing habitual eating patterns, which may impact body weight, is flavor-nutrient learning. Research suggests that post-oral signaling is diminished in both animals and humans with obesity, potentially affecting flavor-nutrient learning. By analyzing pooled data from two similar preliminary studies, we found that markers of glycemic control-specifically fasting glucose and HbA1C-rather than BMI, were negatively correlated with changes in flavor liking in our flavor-nutrient learning task. These findings contribute to the expanding body of research on flavor-nutrient learning and underscore the variability in individual responses to these paradigms. Obesity is increasingly recognized as a complex and heterogeneous condition with diverse underlying mechanisms. Together, our findings and existing evidence emphasize the importance of further investigating how phenotypic factors interact to shape food preferences and eating behaviors.</p>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":" ","pages":"115037"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12393117/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144732909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tristan Dadillon, Gaëlle Champeil-Potokar, Marjorie Gourru, Nathalie Jérôme, Véronique Mathé, Morgane Dufay, Martin Chapelais, Juliane Calvezm, Nicolas Darcel, Olivier Rampin, Olga Davidenko, Isabelle Denis
{"title":"Adaptation of eating behaviour to reduced dietary protein intake in rats: influence of the amount of protein and amino acid composition in the diet.","authors":"Tristan Dadillon, Gaëlle Champeil-Potokar, Marjorie Gourru, Nathalie Jérôme, Véronique Mathé, Morgane Dufay, Martin Chapelais, Juliane Calvezm, Nicolas Darcel, Olivier Rampin, Olga Davidenko, Isabelle Denis","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115131","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Reducing meat consumption is encouraged to improve diet environmental sustainability. It results in reducing protein intake, and this can have consequences on eating behaviour. To better characterise these consequences, six-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups receiving diets differing by their protein source and amount. Two groups received a casein (C) diet, containing 20% (C20) or 6% (C6) protein, a casein density known to induce a hyperphagic response in rats. Three groups received a dehydrated bovine protein (DBP) diet, containing 6% (B6), 10% (B10), or 20% (B20) protein. C20 and B20 rats had also free access to 40% protein pellets (casein for C20 and DBP for B20), but choose to maintain their protein intake close to 20%. C20 and B20 rats showed similar growth and food consumption throughout the 12-week experiment. B6 rats showed reduced growth (-26%) and lean body mass despite similar food consumption to B20. C6 and B10 rats increased their food intake (C6 by +20% relative to C20; B10 by +30% relative to B20) and showed similar growth to C20 and B20 rats. Comparison of amino acid intakes suggests that the amplitude of food overconsumption allowed C6 and B10 rats to achieve a threshold intake of specific essential amino acids. C6 and B10 rats had more visceral adiposity than C20 and B20 rats, but similar lean body mass. Our results characterize the hyperphagic response to moderate meat protein reduction, showing that it increases adiposity, then providing some insights into the obesogenic risk potentially associated with reduced meat consumption.</p>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":" ","pages":"115131"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145275561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Paulo Drs Nosé, Lila M Oyama, Gustavo Gomes de Araujo, Natalia de Almeida Rodrigues, Filipe Antonio de Barros Sousa, Sergio Tufik, Ronaldo V Thomatieli-Santos
{"title":"Metabolic changes explain how training mitigates the reduction in strength caused by sleep restriction.","authors":"Paulo Drs Nosé, Lila M Oyama, Gustavo Gomes de Araujo, Natalia de Almeida Rodrigues, Filipe Antonio de Barros Sousa, Sergio Tufik, Ronaldo V Thomatieli-Santos","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115124","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sleep is crucial for maintaining physiological and cognitive functions, including athletic performance; yet, nearly half of adults in Western countries experience sleep restriction. While human studies demonstrate that sleep restriction impairs strength and power performance, the underlying metabolic mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study aimed to characterize the impact of acute sleep restriction on strength performance and metabolic profiles in trained rats using untargeted metabolomics, a robust approach for identifying global biochemical changes. Twenty young adult Wistar rats were divided into two groups: Trained Control (TC) and Trained Sleep Restriction (TSR). All animals performed an initial Maximal Strength Test (MST) and were then trained for six weeks. On the day after the last training session, the animals were subjected to six hours of sleep restriction. At the end of the sleep restriction, the animals were subjected to the MST again and euthanized for blood collection and GC-MS metabolomics analysis. While both groups showed increased strength after training, the sleep-restricted group (TSR) exhibited reduced strength compared to controls (TC) by week 6 (p < 0.001), despite similar muscle glycogen levels. GC-MS Metabolomic Analysis revealed a pattern in the TSR group, characterized by lower concentrations of alanine, glutamine, serine, glycine, lysine, methionine, threonine, ornithine, tyrosine, norvaline, oleic acid, uric acid, and creatinine, as well as increased concentrations of phenylalanine and valine. In conclusion, acute sleep restriction reduced strength performance in trained rats by shifting metabolism away from efficient oxidative pathways, marked by decreased amino acid support for the Krebs cycle and neuromuscular homeostasis, rather than by changes in glycogen availability.</p>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":" ","pages":"115124"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145258966","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sweet stimuli induce cephalic phase insulin release to varying degrees in humans.","authors":"Alexa J Pullicin, Juyun Lim","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115123","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Previous work has shown that oral stimulation with glucose and glucose-containing carbohydrates induces cephalic phase insulin release (CPIR), and that inhibiting the sweet taste receptor, T1R2+T1R3, attenuates this effect in humans. It remains unclear whether perceived sweet taste in the absence of glucose is sufficient to elicit CPIR. To address this, we measured CPIR following oral exposure to glucose and two non-glucose-containing sweet stimuli, fructose and sucralose. Healthy adults (N = 28) attended three sessions where blood samples were collected before and after stimulation with one of the sweeteners. Concentrations of plasma insulin and c-peptide-a surrogate marker co-secreted with insulin in equimolar amounts-were analyzed to assess the response. While glucose and fructose stimulation elicited significant increases in c-peptide and insulin from baseline at 2 minutes (one-sample t-test, all p < 0.05), sucralose, on average, induced only a trending or non-significant increase (c-peptide, p = 0.08; insulin, p > 0.10). However, when participants' highest (peak) Δ c-peptide and Δ insulin values were considered, all three stimuli produced significant increases in both markers (all p < 0.005 for c-peptide and insulin). Furthermore, repeated measures ANOVA consistently showed no significant effect of stimulus across all metrics considered-post-stimulation Δ, highest Δ, or AUC values (all p > 0.05)-indicating the three stimuli produced comparable responses across individuals. Notably, individual-level data revealed marked variability in both time course and magnitude of CPIR across all stimuli. These findings indicate that tasting sweet stimuli can trigger CPIR in humans, but its expression varies considerably across individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":" ","pages":"115123"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145258968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lucas Soares Frota, Francisco Ernani Alves Magalhães, Daniela Braga de Sousa, Francisco Lucas Alves Batista, Francisco Bastos Cavalcante Sobrinho, Djane Ventura de Azevedo, Franciglauber Silva Bezerra, Sacha Aubrey Alves Rodrigues Santos, Gabriela Alves do Nascimento, Lia Gomes Crisóstomo Sabóia, Hamilton Mitsugu Ishiki, Adriana Rolim Campos, Selene Maia de Morais
{"title":"Analysis of Nonclinical Safety and Corneal Pain-Inducing Potential of Amentoflavone (AMT) in Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio).","authors":"Lucas Soares Frota, Francisco Ernani Alves Magalhães, Daniela Braga de Sousa, Francisco Lucas Alves Batista, Francisco Bastos Cavalcante Sobrinho, Djane Ventura de Azevedo, Franciglauber Silva Bezerra, Sacha Aubrey Alves Rodrigues Santos, Gabriela Alves do Nascimento, Lia Gomes Crisóstomo Sabóia, Hamilton Mitsugu Ishiki, Adriana Rolim Campos, Selene Maia de Morais","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115121","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Corneal pain affects the outer layer of the eye and can result from injuries, infections, autoimmune diseases, or dry eye syndrome. Amentoflavone (AMT), a natural biflavonoid used in traditional Chinese medicine, is known for its anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. This study investigated the effects of AMT on the inhibition of corneal pain in adult zebrafish. Acute nociception was induced using formalin (cutaneous model) and hypertonic saline solution (corneal model). In a separate set of experiments, animals were pre-treated with naloxone, camphor, ruthenium red, capsazepine, L-NAME, methylene blue, ketamine, or amiloride to explore the mechanisms underlying AMT's antinociceptive effects. The results demonstrated that AMT exhibits corneal analgesic activity comparable to morphine, without causing sedation or motor impairment in zebrafish. AMT modulated antinociceptive responses through the TRPV1, ASIC, opioid, and nitrergic systems. In the in silico analysis, AMT showed lower binding energies compared to the antagonists naloxone and L-NAME, suggesting greater stability and potential efficacy. These findings support the potential of AMT as a candidate for the development of new treatments for corneal pain.</p>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":" ","pages":"115121"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145233270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gut Microbiota Mediates the Protective Effects of SGLT-2 Inhibitors on Bipolar Disorder: an intermediary Mendelian randomization study.","authors":"Yaofeng Wang, Yunchang Yang, Yunqin Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115120","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Bipolar disorder (BD), with a global prevalence of approximately 1%, is characterized by mood swings and social impairment, and involves factors such as genetics, brain structure abnormalities, and gut-brain axis dysregulation OBJECTIVES: The influence of SGLT-2 inhibitors and gut microbiota on BD remains unclear. We Investigate causal links between SGLT-2 inhibitors, gut microbiota, and BD risk using Mendelian randomization (MR). Identify mediating microbiota and elucidate connecting molecular pathways.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Two-sample MR utilized European GWAS data. Instrumental variables (p<5×10⁻⁵ for microbiota/BD) were analyzed primarily via inverse-variance weighted regression, with sensitivity analyses. Mediation analysis assessed SGLT-2 effects via microbiota. Functional enrichment (GO/KEGG), gene expression (GSE5388), and PPI network analyses identified pathways and hub genes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>SGLT-2 inhibitors showed a significant negative causal effect on BD risk (OR = 0.104, 95% CI: 0.048-0.228, p<0.001), partially mediated by Clostridium sporosphaeroides abundance (proportion mediated = 4.1%; statistically significant at a nominal p-value threshold, though not after multiple testing correction. 368 of the 473 gut microbiota taxa showed evidence of a causal association with BD. Enrichment implicated calcium signaling (p<0.001) and neuroactive ligand-receptor pathways. Differential expression identified dysregulated GANC (p=0.048) in BD frontal cortices. PPI networks revealed hub genes (COQ2, PKM) involved in mitochondrial function and GPCR activity.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study provides genetic evidence that SGLT-2 inhibitors may reduce BD risk, partly modulated by Clostridium sporosphaeroides. Identified pathways (e.g., calcium signaling) and dysregulated genes highlight mecolic-immune interplay in BD. Findings support evaluating SGLT-2 inhibitors and microbiota therapies in BD, though European-centric data requires broader validation.</p>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":" ","pages":"115120"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145233240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Irving S. Aguilar-Martínez , José L. Góngora-Alfaro , Ricardo A. Navarro-Polanco , Luis Castro-Sánchez , Eloy G. Moreno-Galindo , Javier Alamilla
{"title":"Synergistic effects of capsaicin and ketamine on the depression-like behaviors of animals subjected to the chronic unpredictable mild stress protocol","authors":"Irving S. Aguilar-Martínez , José L. Góngora-Alfaro , Ricardo A. Navarro-Polanco , Luis Castro-Sánchez , Eloy G. Moreno-Galindo , Javier Alamilla","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115122","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115122","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A significant percentage of depression patients are resistant to pharmacological treatments, highlighting the need for novel antidepressant strategies. Ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, produces rapid antidepressant effects and is effective in treatment-resistant cases, but its association with cognitive and behavioral abnormalities resembling schizophrenia limits broader clinical utility. Capsaicin, a TRPV1 agonist, alone or combined with standard antidepressants, reduces immobility in the forced swim test (FST) in rodents. This study evaluated the effects of capsaicin and ketamine, isolated or combined treatments, in the chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model using multiple behavioral tests. We found immediate (day 1) and sustained (day 6) synergistic effects of capsaicin and ketamine in the FST after CUMS. The sucrose preference test (SPT) was performed on similar schedule. None of the treatments increased SPT on the last day of CUMS; however, capsaicin, ketamine, and their combination significantly increased SPT on day 6 post-CUMS, though pharmacologically treated groups did not reach SPT values of non-CUMS rats. Capsaicin alone and in combination with ketamine produced anxiolytic-like effects in the elevated plus maze and marble-burying tests. Locomotor activity in the open field test was unaffected by treatments, but all CUMS-exposed groups showed higher activity than non-CUMS animals. The most effective doses of capsaicin or the combination improved body weight and reduced adrenal gland hypertrophy, yet not to non-CUMS levels. These findings indicate that capsaicin plus ketamine exhibits synergistic antidepressant-like effects in the FST, sustains partial SPT recovery post-CUMS, and exerts anxiolytic-like actions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"303 ","pages":"Article 115122"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145233311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Paula Tormos-Pons , Irene Cano-López , Judit Catalán-Aguilar , Alejandro Lozano-García , Kevin G. Hampel , Vanesa Hidalgo , Alicia Salvador , Vicente Villanueva , Esperanza González-Bono
{"title":"Sex differences in cortisol levels and their relationship with memory and negative affectivity in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy","authors":"Paula Tormos-Pons , Irene Cano-López , Judit Catalán-Aguilar , Alejandro Lozano-García , Kevin G. Hampel , Vanesa Hidalgo , Alicia Salvador , Vicente Villanueva , Esperanza González-Bono","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115118","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115118","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Drug-resistant epilepsy can be considered a chronic stress condition characterized by uncontrollable seizures together with cognitive and affective alterations. Epilepsy and its treatments affect men and women differently, potentially due to interactions with sexual hormones that influence how they experience the condition. This study examines potential sex differences in cortisol levels (as the product of stress processes), affectivity, and memory in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, and the relationships among these variables. The sample was composed of 96 adult patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (<em>M</em> = 38.01 ± 11.12 years; 47 men and 49 women). Results show that men had higher evening cortisol levels and cortisol area under the curve (AUC<sub>i</sub>) than women (for both, <em>p</em> < .05), especially in those with a left hemisphere focus. Men also showed higher trait anxiety, higher DDD and poorer memory than women. In the total sample, trait anxiety and the DDD significantly predicted poor immediate and delayed memory, controlling for the side of seizure focus and effects of epilepsy type (<em>p</em> < .001). When analyses were stratified by sex, cortisol AUC<sub>i</sub> predicted poorer delayed memory in men but not in women, while DDD predicted memory performance only in women. These findings suggest that cortisol, trait anxiety and the DDD are reliable predictors of memory impairment in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, with a sex-differential pattern of relationships. Our results highlight the importance of considering sex differences and clinical variables when developing tailored treatment approaches for this population.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"303 ","pages":"Article 115118"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145228598","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}