Abstract
An individual’s blood pressure (BP) reactivity to stress is linked to increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. However, inter- and intra-individual BP variability makes understanding the coupling between stress, BP reactivity, and long-term outcomes challenging. Previous microneurographic studies of sympathetic signaling to muscle vasculature (i.e. muscle sympathetic nerve activity, MSNA) have established a neural predictor for an individual’s BP reactivity during short-lasting stress. Unfortunately, this method is invasive, technically demanding, and time-consuming and thus not optimal for widespread use. Potential central nervous system correlates have not been investigated. We used MagnetoEncephaloGraphy and Magnetic Resonance Imaging to search for neural correlates to sympathetic response profiles within the central autonomic network and sensorimotor (Rolandic) regions in 20 healthy young males. The main correlates include (a) Rolandic beta rebound and an anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) response elicited by sudden stimulation and (b) cortical thickness in the ACC. Our findings highlight the involvement of the ACC in reactions to stress entailing peripheral sympathetic responses to environmental stimuli. The Rolandic response furthermore indicates a surprisingly strong link between somatosensory and autonomic processes. Our results thus demonstrate the potential in using non-invasive neuroimaging-based measures of stress-related MSNA reactions, previously assessed only using invasive microneurography.
Highlights
An individual’s blood pressure (BP) reactivity to stress is linked to increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease
An individual’s status as an MSNA Inhibitor or Non-inhibitor and the BP trends coupled to these groups has only been demonstrated with microneurography, which is an invasive, delicate, and time-consuming method only utilized in a handful of labs worldwide
We found that cortical thickness in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) correlated with individuals’ MSNA responses (n = 20; Spearman, rs = − 0.62, p = 0.004)
Summary
An individual’s blood pressure (BP) reactivity to stress is linked to increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Phobic syncope patients display exaggerated MSNA inhibition following sudden sensory stimuli, as compared to non-phobic syncope patients (who did not differ from age-matched healthy controls), giving further support to the notion that cortical processing may be involved in shaping sudden stimulus induced MSNA response profiles and associated BP r esponses[14]. The above findings suggest that the specific sympathetic response profiles i.e., being an MSNA Inhibitor or Non-inhibitor, reveal important information regarding an individual’s short-term BP trend triggered by an environmental stressor. The high frequency with which such stressors are encountered in a modern urban society suggests that these response profiles may have important implications in terms of BP variability and long-term BP trends Such implications are challenging to explore today because a non-invasive surrogate variable for sudden stimulus induced MSNA inhibition has not been established. Neuroimaging studies could identify cortical signatures that are more clinically accessible as surrogates for microneurography-based MSNA response profiles
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