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Acute social stress modulates coherence regional homogeneity

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Abstract

It is a generally accepted observation that individuals act differently under stress. Recent task-based neuroimaging studies have shown that individuals under stress favor the intuitive and fast system over the deliberative and reflective system. In the present study, using a within-subjects design in thirty young adults, we examined whether and how acute social stress impacts regional neural activity in resting state. The results showed that stress induced lower coherence regional homogeneity (Cohe-ReHo) values in left hippocampus and right superior frontal gyrus, both of which are regions associated with deliberative decision making. Stress-induced cortisol change was significantly and positively correlated with the change in Cohe-ReHo value in the right midbrain, a region involved in habitual decision making. These results extend previous findings by demonstrating that stress modulates local synchrony in brain regions implicated in deliberative and intuitive decision making. Our findings might be useful in understanding the neural mechanisms underlying stress-related mental disorders.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Hu for collecting the data.

Funding

This study was funded by Natural Scientific Foundation of China (No. 81771186) and MOE Tier 2 (MOE2016-T2–1-015) to RY, and by the Scientific Research Foundation of School of Psychology at South China Normal University (hsxly2017003) to J. Chang.

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  1. Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

    Jingjing Chang & Rongjun Yu

  2. Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, 9 Arts Link, Singapore, 117570, Singapore

    Rongjun Yu

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  1. Jingjing Chang
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Chang, J., Yu, R. Acute social stress modulates coherence regional homogeneity. Brain Imaging and Behavior 13, 762–770 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-018-9898-9

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