Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2010 Feb;1186:190-222. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05331.x.
The brain is the key organ of stress reactivity, coping, and recovery processes. Within the brain, a distributed neural circuitry determines what is threatening and thus stressful to the individual. Instrumental brain systems of this circuitry include the hippocampus, amygdala, and areas of the prefrontal cortex. Together, these systems regulate physiological and behavioral stress processes, which can be adaptive in the short-term and maladaptive in the long-term. Importantly, such stress processes arise from bidirectional patterns of communication between the brain and the autonomic, cardiovascular, and immune systems via neural and endocrine mechanisms underpinning cognition, experience, and behavior. In one respect, these bidirectional stress mechanisms are protective in that they promote short-term adaptation (allostasis). In another respect, however, these stress mechanisms can lead to a long-term dysregulation of allostasis in that they promote maladaptive wear-and-tear on the body and brain under chronically stressful conditions (allostatic load), compromising stress resiliency and health. This review focuses specifically on the links between stress-related processes embedded within the social environment and embodied within the brain, which is viewed as the central mediator and target of allostasis and allostatic load.
大脑是应激反应、应对和恢复过程的关键器官。在大脑中，分布式神经回路决定了什么对个体是有威胁的，从而产生压力。该回路的仪器大脑系统包括海马体、杏仁核和前额叶皮层的区域。这些系统共同调节生理和行为应激过程，这些过程在短期内可能是适应的，而在长期内可能是适应不良的。重要的是，这种应激过程源于大脑与自主神经系统、心血管系统和免疫系统之间通过神经和内分泌机制进行的双向交流模式，这些机制支撑着认知、经验和行为。从某种意义上说，这些双向应激机制具有保护作用，因为它们促进了短期适应（全身适应综合征）。然而，从另一个方面来看，这些应激机制可能导致长期的全身适应失调，因为它们在慢性应激条件下促进了身体和大脑的适应性磨损（全身适应负荷），损害了应激弹性和健康。本综述特别关注嵌入在社会环境中的与应激相关的过程与嵌入在大脑中的与应激相关的过程之间的联系，大脑被视为全身适应和全身适应负荷的中央中介和靶标。
