title: Perceived Stress Is Differentially Related to Hippocampal Subfield Volumes among Older Adults.
abstract: Chronic exposure to stress has been shown to impact a wide range of health-related outcomes in older adults. Despite extensive animal literature revealing deleterious effects of biological markers of stress on the dentate gyrus subfield of the hippocampus, links between hippocampal subfields and psychological stress have not been studied in humans. This study examined the relationship between perceived stress and hippocampal subfield volumes among racially/ethnically diverse older adults.
  
  
  
  Between July 2011 and March 2014, 116 nondemented participants were consecutively drawn from the Einstein Aging Study, an ongoing community-based sample of individuals over the age of 70 residing in Bronx, New York. All participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale, and underwent 3.0 T MRI. FreeSurfer was used to derive total hippocampal volume, hippocampal subfield volumes (CA1, CA2/CA3, CA4/Dentate Gyrus (CA4/DG), and subiculum), entorhinal cortex volume, whole brain volume, and total intracranial volume.
  
  
  
  Linear regression analyses revealed that higher levels of perceived stress were associated with smaller total hippocampal volume (β = -0.20, t = -2.40, p = 0.02), smaller CA2/CA3 volumes (β = -0.18, t = -2.24, p = 0.03) and smaller CA4/DG volumes (β = -0.19, t = -2.28, p = 0.03) after controlling for total intracranial volume, age, gender, and race. These findings remained unchanged after removal of individuals with clinically significant symptoms of depression.
  
  
  
  Our findings provide evidence of a relationship between a direct indicator of psychological stress and specific hippocampal subfield volumes in elderly individuals. These results highlight the importance of clinical screening for chronic stress in otherwise healthy older adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Fordham University, Bronx, New York, United States of America.|Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Molly E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ezzati
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mindy J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America.|Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America.|Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lipton
authors.affiliation: Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Brickman
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sliwinski
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America.|Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lipton
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D003071:Cognition; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D003863:Depression / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D012649:Self Concept; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology