Cortisol in Emotional Processing

描述（由申请人提供）：长期以来，皮质醇一直被怀疑在情感障碍（如抑郁症）中发挥关键作用。然而，皮质醇对与情绪过程相关的大脑活动的影响尚未在人类中进行研究。因此，使用功能性磁共振成像（fMRI），这一系列的实验将旨在表征皮质醇水平升高对与情绪过程相关的大脑活动的影响。这些研究将解决以下问题：1)循环皮质醇水平急剧升高的影响；2)皮质醇水平升高的暴露时间长短的影响；3)皮质醇对与情绪过程相关的大脑活动影响的性别差异。几种不同类型的情感处理背后的功能电路将使用功能磁共振成像进行研究。在这些研究中使用的情绪诱导范式将包括在抑郁状态下功能失调的特定情感过程（快乐和悲伤）。据推测，在情绪处理过程中，皮质醇的升高会导致前额皮质活动的剂量依赖性下降和杏仁核活动的增加。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cortisol has long been suspected to play a critical role in affective disorders, such as depression. However, the effects of cortisol on brain activity associated with emotional processes have not yet been investigated in humans. Therefore, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this series of experiments will aim to characterize the effects of elevated cortisol levels on brain activity associated with emotional processes. These studies will address 1) Effects of acutely elevated circulating cortisol levels 2) Length of exposure effects of elevated cortisol levels and, 3) Gender differences in the effects of cortisol on brain activity associated with emotional processes. The functional circuitry underlying the processing of several different types of affect will be studied using fMRI. The emotion induction paradigms used in these studies will incorporate specific affective processes which are dysfunctional in the depressed state (happiness and sadness). It is hypothesized that during emotional processing elevations in cortisol will result in dose dependant decreases in prefrontal cortex activity and increased amygdala activity.