Sex differences in stress response circuitry activation dependent on female hormonal cycle.
Sex differences in stress response circuitry activation dependent on female hormonal cycle.
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DOI：
10.1523/jneurosci.3021-09.2010
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发表时间：
2010-01-13
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Makris N
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文献类型：
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作者：
Goldstein JM;Jerram M;Abbs B;Whitfield-Gabrieli S;Makris N
理解应激调节中的性别差异对于理解男性和女性大脑的基本生理差异以及它们对与应激反应回路相关的慢性疾病中性别差异的易感性的影响具有重要意义。在这项功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）研究中，我们证明了应激反应回路中大脑活动的显著性别差异取决于女性的月经周期阶段。根据年龄、种族、教育程度和利手情况，将12名健康的白种人绝经前女性与来自同一人群的一组健康男性进行比较。使用负性效价/高唤醒与中性视觉刺激对受试者进行扫描，我们证明这些刺激激活了应激反应回路（杏仁核、下丘脑、海马体、脑干、眶额皮质和内侧前额叶皮质（OFC和mPFC）以及前扣带回（ACG））。根据月经周期激素的正常变化（即早期卵泡期（EF）与晚期卵泡期 - 月经中期（LF/MC））对女性进行两次扫描。使用SPM8b软件，除了腹内侧（VMN）和外侧（LHA）下丘脑、左侧杏仁核和ACG外，男性与EF期女性在血氧水平依赖（BOLD）信号变化方面几乎没有显著差异。相比之下，与LF/MC期女性相比，男性在双侧ACG和OFC、mPFC、LHA、VMN、海马体以及导水管周围灰质的BOLD信号变化显著更大，其中mPFC和OFC的效应量最大。研究结果表明，应激反应回路中的性别差异是通过皮质下大脑活动对唤醒的皮质控制的影响而受到激素调节的，并证明女性具有一种与男性不同的调节应激反应的天然激素能力。
Understanding sex differences in stress regulation has important implications for understanding basic physiological differences in the male and female brain and their impact on vulnerability to sex differences in chronic medical disorders associated with stress response circuitry. In this fMRI study, we demonstrated that significant sex differences in brain activity in stress response circuitry were dependent on women's menstrual cycle phase. Twelve healthy Caucasian premenopausal women were compared to a group of healthy men from the same population, based on age, ethnicity, education, and right-handedness. Subjects were scanned using negative valence/high arousal versus neutral visual stimuli that we demonstrated activated stress response circuitry (amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus, brainstem, orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortices (OFC and mPFC), and anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG). Women were scanned twice based on normal variation in menstrual cycle hormones (i.e., early follicular (EF) compared with late follicular-midcycle menstrual phases (LF/MC)). Using SPM8b, there were few significant differences in BOLD signal changes in men compared to EF women, except ventromedial (VMN) and lateral (LHA) hypothalamus, left amygdala, and ACG. In contrast, men exhibited significantly greater BOLD signal changes compared to LF/MC women on bilateral ACG and OFC, mPFC, LHA, VMN, hippocampus, and periaqueductal gray, with largest effect sizes in mPFC and OFC. Findings suggest that sex differences in stress response circuitry are hormonally regulated via the impact of subcortical brain activity on the cortical control of arousal, and demonstrate that females have been endowed with a natural hormonal capacity to regulate the stress response that differs from males.