Abstract
Psychological stress induces many diseases including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, the causal relationship between stress and brain atrophy has not been clarified. Applying single-prolonged stress (SPS) to explore the global effect of severe stress, we performed brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition and Voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Significant atrophy was detected in the bilateral thalamus and right visual cortex. Fluorescent immunohistochemistry for Iba-1 as the marker of activated microglia indicates regional microglial activation as stress-reaction in these atrophic areas. These data certify the impact of severe psychological stress on the atrophy of the visual cortex and the thalamus. Unexpectedly, these results are similar to chronic neuropathic pain rather than PTSD clinical research. We believe that some sensitisation mechanism from severe stress-induced atrophy in the visual cortex and thalamus, and the functional defect of the visual system may be a potential therapeutic target for stress-related diseases.
Highlights
Psychological stress induces many diseases including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); the causal relationship between stress and brain atrophy has not been clarified
Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) revealed three significant atrophic clusters induced by singleprolonged stress (SPS) in the areas of the right visual cortex and the bilateral thalamus, respectively; SPS: n = 18, sham: n = 17, cluster-family-wise error (FWE) corrected p < 0.05 (Table 1)
We piled these atrophic areas upon the visual stream and the retinotectal pathway (Fig. 4) and considered that cluster A is subject to the visual stream; neither the posterior lateral nucleus in the thalamus nor the lateral geniculate nucleus reaches significance
Summary
Psychological stress induces many diseases including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); the causal relationship between stress and brain atrophy has not been clarified. Fluorescent immunohistochemistry for Iba-1 as the marker of activated microglia indicates regional microglial activation as stress-reaction in these atrophic areas These data certify the impact of severe psychological stress on the atrophy of the visual cortex and the thalamus. A recent meta-analysis in chronic neuropathic pain has shown decreased grey matter volume in the bilateral anterior insula and thalamus, as well as the right superior frontal gyrus and left post central gyrus[11]. It is not yet clear whether such atrophy is caused by sensitisation from neuropathy, psychological stress from chronic pain, or stress from the environmental aspects of patients. A comprehensive and global brain analysis of SPS has rarely been described
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