title: Greater amygdala activity and dorsomedial prefrontal-amygdala coupling are associated with enhanced inflammatory responses to stress.
abstract: Psychological stress is implicated in the etiology of many common chronic diseases and mental health disorders. Recent research suggests that inflammation may be a key biological mediator linking stress and health. Nevertheless, the neurocognitive pathways underlying stress-related increases in inflammatory activity are largely unknown. The present study thus examined associations between neural and inflammatory responses to an acute laboratory-based social stressor. Healthy female participants (n=31) were exposed to a brief episode of stress while they underwent an fMRI scan. Blood samples were taken before and after the stressor, and plasma was assayed for markers of inflammatory activity. Exposure to the stressor was associated with significant increases in feelings of social evaluation and rejection, and with increases in levels of inflammation. Analyses linking the neural and inflammatory data revealed that heightened neural activity in the amygdala in response to the stressor was associated with greater increases in inflammation. Functional connectivity analyses indicated that individuals who showed stronger coupling between the amygdala and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) also showed a heightened inflammatory response to the stressor. Interestingly, activity in a different set of neural regions was related to increases in feelings of social rejection. These data show that greater amygdala activity in response to a stressor, as well as tighter coupling between the amygdala and the DMPFC, are associated with greater increases in inflammatory activity. Results from this study begin to identify neural mechanisms that might link stress with increased risk for inflammation-related disorders such as cardiovascular disease and depression.
authors.affiliation: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholars Program, University of California, San Francisco and University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Keely A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Muscatell
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Research Centre of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dedovic
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences and Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: George M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Slavich
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences and Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Loras College, Dubuque, IA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Jarcho
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences and Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Breen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences and Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Julienne E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bower
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences and Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Irwin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: neisenbe@ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Naomi I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Eisenberger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000679:Amygdala / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015850:Interleukin-6; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
keywords: Amygdala; IL-6; Inflammation; Medial prefrontal cortex; Neuroimaging; Social rejection; Social stress; Stress; fMRI