title: Using social epidemiology and neuroscience to explore the relationship between job stress and frontotemporal cortex activity among workers.
abstract: Mental health problems, such as depression, are increasingly common among workers. Job-related stresses, including psychological demands and a lack of discretion in controlling one's own work environment, are important causal factors. However, the mechanisms through which job-related stress may affect brain function remain unknown. We sought to identify the relationship between job-related stress and frontotemporal cortex activation using near-infrared spectroscopy. Seventy-nine (45 females, 34 males) Japanese employees, aged 26-51 years, were recruited from respondents to the Japanese Study of Stratification, Health, Income, and Neighborhood survey. Job-related stress was measured using the Japanese version of Job Content Questionnaire, which can index "job demand" and "job control". We found a significant correlation between higher "job demand" and smaller oxygenated hemoglobin [oxy-Hb] changes in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in female (r = -.54 to -.44). Significant correlations between higher "job control" and greater [oxy-Hb] changes in the right temporal cortex were observed among male, and in the combined sample (r = .46-.64). This initial cross-sectional observation suggests that elevated job-related stress is related to decrease frontotemporal cortex activation among workers. Integrating social epidemiology and neuroscience may be a powerful strategy for understanding how individuals' brain functions may mediate between the job-related stress or psychosocial work characteristics and public mental health.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine , The University of Tokyo , Tokyo , Japan.
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.forename: Yukika
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Ryu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takizawa
authors.forename: Shinsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.forename: Akihide
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Satomura
authors.forename: Eisuke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sakakibara
authors.forename: Hanako
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakurada
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamagishi
authors.forename: Fumichika
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Akane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Aya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Inai
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishioka
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Eriguchi
authors.forename: Chihiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kakiuchi
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.forename: Chiemi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kan
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Umeda
authors.forename: Akihito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shimazu
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Norito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: Kiyoto
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kasai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010108:Oxyhemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism*; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D010108:Oxyhemoglobins
keywords: Frontotemporal cortex activation; Job demand-control model; Job-related stress; Near-infrared spectroscopy; Social epidemiolog