Esch Tobias, Stefano George B
Division of Integrative Health Promotion, Coburg University of Applied Sciences, D-96450 Coburg, Germany.
Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2010;31(1):19-39.
Stress is natural and belongs to life itself. To sustain it and even grow with it biology invented different mechanisms, since stress resistance is obligatory. These pathways, we surmise, can be activated and learned intentionally, through professional stress management training or 'mind-body medicine', or endogenously and automatically through autoregulation. Since the primary goal of various stress-reducing approaches is corresponding, we expect to find an overlapping physiology and neurobiological principle of stress reduction. These common pathways, as we speculate, involve some of the very same signalling molecules and structures.
Concepts of stress and stress management are described and then associated with underlying molecular and neurobiological pathways. Evidence is gathered from different sources to substantiate the hypothesis of an overlapping neurobiological principle in stress autoregulation.
Stress describes the capacity and mechanisms to sustain and adjust to externally or internally challenging situations. Therefore, organisms can rely on the endogenous ability to self-regulate stress and stressors, i.e., autoregulatory stress management. Stress management usually consists of one to all of the following instruments and activities: behavioral or cognitive, exercise, relaxation and nutritional or food interventions (BERN), including social support and spirituality. These columns can be analyzed for their underlying neurobiological and autoregulatory pathways, thereby revealing a close connection to the brain's pleasure, reward and motivation circuits that are particularly bound to limbic structures and to endogenous dopamine, morphine, and nitric oxide (NO) signalling. Within this work, we demonstrate the existence of opioid, opiate, dopamine and related pathways for each of the selected stress management columns.
Stress management techniques may possess specific and distinct physiological effects. However, beneficial behaviors and strategies to overcome stress are, as a more general principle, neurobiologically rewarded by pleasure induction, yet positively and physiologically amplified and reinforced, and this seems to work via dopamine, endorphin and morphine release, apart from other messenger molecules. These latter effects are unspecific, however, down-regulatory and clearly stress-reducing by their nature.
There seems to exist a common neurobiological mechanism, i.e., limbic autoregulation, that involves dopamine, morphine and other endogenous signalling molecules, e.g., other opioid receptor agonists, endocannabinoids, oxytocin or serotonin, many of which act via NO release, and this share seems to be of critical importance for the self-regulation and management of stress: stress management is an endogenous potential.
压力是自然的，属于生活本身。为了承受压力甚至与之共同成长，生物学进化出了不同的机制，因为抗压能力是必不可少的。我们推测，这些途径可以通过专业的压力管理培训或“身心医学”被有意激活和习得，也可以通过自动调节内源性地、自动地被激活。由于各种减压方法的主要目标是一致的，我们期望找到一种重叠的减压生理学和神经生物学原理。正如我们所推测的，这些共同途径涉及一些相同的信号分子和结构。
描述压力和压力管理的概念，然后将其与潜在的分子和神经生物学途径联系起来。从不同来源收集证据，以证实压力自动调节中存在重叠神经生物学原理的假设。
压力描述了承受和适应外部或内部挑战性情况的能力和机制。因此，生物体可以依靠内源性的自我调节压力和应激源的能力，即自动调节压力管理。压力管理通常包括以下全部或部分手段和活动：行为或认知、运动、放松以及营养或饮食干预（BERN），包括社会支持和精神层面的内容。可以分析这些方面潜在的神经生物学和自动调节途径，从而揭示它们与大脑的愉悦、奖励和动机回路的紧密联系，这些回路尤其与边缘系统结构以及内源性多巴胺、吗啡和一氧化氮（NO）信号传导相关。在这项研究中，我们展示了所选压力管理各方面中阿片类、鸦片类、多巴胺及相关途径的存在。
压力管理技术可能具有特定且独特的生理效应。然而，作为一个更普遍的原则，克服压力的有益行为和策略在神经生物学上会因愉悦感的诱导而得到奖励，但在生理上会被积极地放大和强化，这似乎是通过多巴胺、内啡肽和吗啡的释放起作用的，此外还涉及其他信使分子。然而，这些后者的效应是非特异性的，但其本质是下调性的且能明显减轻压力。
似乎存在一种共同的神经生物学机制，即边缘系统自动调节，它涉及多巴胺、吗啡和其他内源性信号分子，例如其他阿片受体激动剂、内源性大麻素、催产素或血清素，其中许多通过NO释放起作用，这种共享似乎对于压力的自我调节和管理至关重要：压力管理是一种内源性潜力。
