Exposure to traumatic stress increases the odds of developing a broad range of psychiatric conditions. Genetic studies targeting multiple stress-related quantitative phenotypes may shed light on... Show moreExposure to traumatic stress increases the odds of developing a broad range of psychiatric conditions. Genetic studies targeting multiple stress-related quantitative phenotypes may shed light on mechanisms underlying vulnerability to psychopathology in the aftermath of stressful events. We applied a multivariate genome-wide association study (GWAS) to a unique military cohort (N = 583) in which we measured biochemical and behavioral phenotypes. The availability of pre- and post-deployment measurements allowed to capture changes in these phenotypes in response to stress. For genome-wide significant loci, we performed functional annotation, phenome-wide analysis and quasi-replication in PTSD case-control GWASs. We discovered one genetic variant reaching genome-wide significant association, surviving permutation and sensitivity analyses (rs10100651, p = 9.9 x 10(-9)). Functional annotation prioritized the genes INTS8 and TP53INP1. A phenome-wide scan revealed a significant association of these same genes with sleeping problems, hypertension and subjective well-being. Finally, a targeted lookup revealed nominally significant association of rs10100651 in a PTSD case-control GWAS in the UK Biobank (p = 0.02). We provide comprehensive evidence from multiple resources hinting at a role of the highlighted genetic variant in the human stress response, marking the power of multivariate genome-wide analysis of quantitative measures in stress research. Future genetic and functional studies can target this locus to further assess its effects on stress mediation and its possible role in psychopathology or resilience. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved. Show less
It is common in life to not perform at the very top of our cognitive abilities. This phenomenon usually exacerbates when we are under high levels of stress and in people with psychiatric disorders.... Show moreIt is common in life to not perform at the very top of our cognitive abilities. This phenomenon usually exacerbates when we are under high levels of stress and in people with psychiatric disorders. Attention to negative information is considered to play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of these disorders, especially anxiety-related disorders. Attention to negative information is not necessarily bad as it is an evolutionary function to protect us from dangerous situations. However, it can be destructive when it occurs constantly or when we need to focus on an important task. There are many situations where we have to perform difficult cognitive tasks and we worry about our performance or other people’s evaluation. Trait cognitive control, the ability to control attention and maintain a goal-relevant behaviour, is suggested to play a key role in the relationships between anxiety/stress, attention to negative information, and cognitive performance. Yet, the evidence is limited and further investigation is needed. In the current thesis, the relations between anxiety/stress, attention to emotional information, and cognitive performance will be investigated in a multidisciplinary approach, synthesizing clinical and cognitive factors and neurobiological underpinnings, while focusing on the role of trait cognitive control. Show less
The forced swim test (FST) for rodents does not model despair or helplessness. It also is not a read-out for depression, anxiety, psychomotor retardation or autism, because these are... Show moreThe forced swim test (FST) for rodents does not model despair or helplessness. It also is not a read-out for depression, anxiety, psychomotor retardation or autism, because these are anthropomorphic interpretations of the rodent's acquired immobility. Rather, the transition from swimming to immobility allows to examine the mechanistic underpinning of coping with inescapable stressors. However, in a recent detailed analysis of the FST application over the past 40 years, we noted a dramatic surge in the use of this test to phenotype animals as 'depressed'. As a follow up to that report, we now present an analysis of the use of the FST over the past three years. This literature analysis shows that the popularity of the EST is still increasing and that the majority of researchers qualifies the rodent's floating response as depressive-like behavior. However, over the past few years we also note a trend to interpret immobility rather as the expression of a coping strategy. In view of this result, we have sent a poll to the relevant authors to learn how consistent they are in naming FST behavior. Remarkably, we find a dramatic inverse correlation between their first qualification of acquired immobility as depressive-like behavior towards their current interpretation as coping strategy. In this contribution we have embedded our literature analysis and poll results in an update on the management of coping with inescapable stressors by processing in prefrontal cortical circuitry and glucocorticoid feedback. Show less
The forced swim test (FST) for rodents does not model despair or helplessness. It also is not a read-out for depression, anxiety, psychomotor retardation or autism, because these are... Show moreThe forced swim test (FST) for rodents does not model despair or helplessness. It also is not a read-out for depression, anxiety, psychomotor retardation or autism, because these are anthropomorphic interpretations of the rodent’s acquired immobility. Rather, the transition from swimming to immobility allows to examine the mechanistic underpinning of coping with inescapable stressors. However, in a recent detailed analysis of the FST application over the past 40 years, we noted a dramatic surge in the use of this test to phenotype animals as ‘depressed’. As a follow up to that report, we now present an analysis of the use of the FST over the past three years. This literature analysis shows that the popularity of the FST is still increasing and that the majority of researchers qualifies the rodent’s floating response as depressive-like behavior. However, over the past few years we also note a trend to interpret immobility rather as the expression of a coping strategy. In view of this result, we have sent a poll to the relevant authors to learn how consistent they are in naming FST behavior. Remarkably, we find a dramatic inverse correlation between their first qualification of acquired immobility as depressive-like behavior towards their current interpretation as coping strategy. In this contribution we have embedded our literature analysis and poll results in an update on the management of coping with inescapable stressors by processing in prefrontal cortical circuitry and glucocorticoid feedback. Show less
Corticosteroid hormones act in the brain to support adaptation to stress via binding to mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors (MR and GR). These receptors act in large measure as... Show moreCorticosteroid hormones act in the brain to support adaptation to stress via binding to mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors (MR and GR). These receptors act in large measure as transcription factors. Corticosteroid effects can be highly divergent, depending on the receptor type, but also on brain region, cell type, and physiological context. These differences ultimately depend on differential interactions of MR and GR with other proteins, which determine ligand binding, nuclear translocation, and transcriptional activities. In this review, we discuss established and potential mechanisms that confer receptor and cell type-specific effects of the MR and GR-mediated transcriptional effects in the brain. Show less
Psychotic depression is characterized by elevated circulating cortisol, and high daily doses of the glucocorticoid/progesterone antagonist mifepristone for 1 week are required for significant... Show morePsychotic depression is characterized by elevated circulating cortisol, and high daily doses of the glucocorticoid/progesterone antagonist mifepristone for 1 week are required for significant improvement. Using a rodent model, we find that such high doses of mifepristone are needed because the antagonist is rapidly degraded and poorly penetrates the blood-brain barrier, but seems to facilitate the entry of cortisol. We also report that in male C57BL/6J mice, after a 7-day treatment with a high dose of mifepristone, basal blood corticosterone levels were similar to that of vehicle controls. This is surprising because after the first mifepristone challenge, corticosterone remained elevated for about 16 h, and then decreased towards vehicle control levels at 24 h. At that time, stress-induced corticosterone levels of the 1xMIF were sevenfold higher than the 7xMIF group, the latter response being twofold lower than controls. The 1xMIF mice showed behavioral hyperactivity during exploration of the circular hole board, while the 7xMIF mice rather engaged in serial search patterns. To explain this rapid reset of corticosterone secretion upon recurrent mifepristone administration, we suggest the following: (i) A rebound glucocorticoid feedback after cessation of mifepristone treatment. (ii) Glucocorticoid agonism in transrepression and recruitment of cell-specific coregulator cocktails. (iii) A more prominent role of brain MR function in control of stress circuit activity. An overview table of neuroendocrine MIF effects is provided. The data are of interest for understanding the mechanistic underpinning of stress system reset as treatment strategy for stress-related diseases. Show less
With this thesis the PhD-candidate aims to enrich the body of evidence concerning the relation between stress and health, and the mediating role of (un)conscious perseverative cognitions (which is... Show moreWith this thesis the PhD-candidate aims to enrich the body of evidence concerning the relation between stress and health, and the mediating role of (un)conscious perseverative cognitions (which is captured in the extended perseverative cognition hypothesis). The main aim of this thesis was to find direct evidence for the extended PC hypothesis in real life. She examined whether reducing (un)conscious perseverative cognitions, or worry, improved stress-related physiological activity and subjective health complaints. Show less
Self‐esteem moderates the relationship between stress and (cardiovascular) health, with low self‐ esteem potentially exacerbating the impact of stressors. Boosting self‐esteem may therefore help to... Show moreSelf‐esteem moderates the relationship between stress and (cardiovascular) health, with low self‐ esteem potentially exacerbating the impact of stressors. Boosting self‐esteem may therefore help to buffer against stress. Subliminal evaluative conditioning (SEC), which subliminally couples self‐ words with positive words, has previously been successfully used to boost self‐esteem, but the existing studies are in need of replication. In this article, we aimed to replicate and extend previous SEC studies. The first 2 experiments simultaneously examined whether SEC increased self‐ esteem (Experiment 1, n = 84) and reduced cardiovascular reactivity to a stressor in high worriers (Experiment 2, n = 77). On the basis of these results, the 3rd experiment was set up to examine whether an adjusted personalized SEC task increased self‐esteem and reduced cardiac activity in high worriers (n = 81). Across the 3 experiments, no effects were found of SEC on implicit or explicit self‐esteem or affect or on cardiovascular (re)activity compared to a control condition in which the self was coupled with neutral words. The results do not support the use of the subliminal intervention in its current format. As stress is highly prevalent, future studies should focus on developing other cost‐effective and evidence‐based interventions. Show less
Stoffels, M.; Nijs, M.; Spinhoven, P.; Mesbah, R.; Hagenaars, M.A. 2017
Bacteria are highly complex and diverse organisms that have adapted to survive in ecological niches ranging from the most extreme to the most heterogeneous environments. Actinobacteria, with their... Show moreBacteria are highly complex and diverse organisms that have adapted to survive in ecological niches ranging from the most extreme to the most heterogeneous environments. Actinobacteria, with their beautiful morphologies and complex multicellular life cycle, are a striking example. These filamentous bacteria produce many enzymes and natural products, including two-thirds of all known antibiotics, which makes them highly relevant for medical, biotechnological and industrial applications. In Streptomyces, complex and intertwining regulatory networks, consisting of pathway-specific and global regulators, control development and antibiotic production in response to environmental stimuli and stresses. This thesis explores how the model organism Streptomyces coelicolor senses environmental signals, related to oxygen stress and the availability of aminosugars, and how the bacterium translates these into appropriate responses. Show less
The human body is inherently designed to be able to adapt to challenging situations. However, some experiences are so severe that they can lead to substantial and longerlasting disturbances in an... Show moreThe human body is inherently designed to be able to adapt to challenging situations. However, some experiences are so severe that they can lead to substantial and longerlasting disturbances in an individuals’ behavioral, psychological and physiological functioning. Importantly, there is a degree of inter-individual variation, as not all individuals show similar reactions to severe stress. Neuroimaging techniques can help to unravel the brain characteristics related to vulnerability and resilience to severe stress. In the research for this dissertation several neuroimaging modalities were used to further explore the brain characteristics related to (dys)function after exposure to severe stress and after exposure to hypercortisolism, such as voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging to study the structure of gray and white matter in the brain, and resting-state fMRI to study functional connectivity patterns. We studied brain characteristics in several groups consisting of: patients in long-term remission of Cushing’s disease, and individuals with a history of childhood emotional maltreatment to examine the effects of hypercortisolism and severe stress on the brain. In addition, we studied a group of police officers and a group of individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment to investigate the brain characteristics related to resilience to stress. Show less
Previous research has provided evidence for the link between psychological processes and psychophysiological health outcomes. Psychological interventions, such as face-to-face or online cognitive... Show morePrevious research has provided evidence for the link between psychological processes and psychophysiological health outcomes. Psychological interventions, such as face-to-face or online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and serious games aimed at improving health, have shown promising results in promoting health outcomes. Few studies so far, however, have examined whether Internet-based CBT combined with serious gaming elements is effective in modulating health outcomes. Moreover, studies often did not incorporate psychophysiological or immunological challenges in order to gain insight into physiological responses to real-life challenges after psychological interventions. The overall aim of this study is to investigate the effects of a psychological intervention on self-reported and physiological health outcomes in response to immune and psychophysiological challenges. Show less
