Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States.
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States.
Neuropsychologia. 2014 Jan;53:257-63. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.11.022. Epub 2013 Dec 4.
The neural correlates of response to psychosocial stress and gender differences therein are difficult to model experimentally as this type of stressor is difficult to induce in a brain imaging environment. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a behavioral paradigm that reliably induces moderate levels of stress was thus modified for the MRI environment. To determine the neurobehavioral basis of gender differences in response to observing oneself under social evaluative stress, 26 subjects (14 females) performed the TSST while being videotaped. During fMRI scanning, subjects were shown alternating video clips of two
SELF or a same-sex OTHER performing the TSST. Subjects rated their stress level immediately after the video clips. GENDER differences in the [SELF-OTHER] contrast were analyzed. There was a GENDER×CONDITION interaction such that only women reported increased subjective stress during video feedback of their TSST session. A whole brain analysis (SELF vs. OTHER) showed activation in the bilateral insula, inferior, middle and superior frontal gyri. Greater recruitment was seen among males in some of these same areas in the context of significantly lower stress ratings. Activation of areas involved in inhibitory control and sensory awareness might contribute to the significantly lower stress ratings in males. Understanding these gender differences is relevant to disorders of stress and self-concept.
响应社会心理压力的神经相关因素及其性别差异很难通过实验来模拟，因为这种应激源很难在脑成像环境中诱发。因此，特利尔社会应激测试（TSST），一种可靠地诱导中度压力的行为范式，已被修改为 MRI 环境。为了确定在观察自己在社会评价压力下的反应中性别差异的神经行为基础，26 名受试者（14 名女性）在进行磁共振成像扫描的同时进行了 TSST。在 fMRI 扫描过程中，受试者会交替观看两个条件的视频剪辑：SELF 或 SAME-SEX OTHER 执行 TSST。受试者在观看完视频剪辑后立即对自己的压力水平进行评分。分析了性别差异在 [SELF-OTHER] 对比中的作用。结果显示，只有女性在观看自己的 TSST 录像反馈时报告了更高的主观压力，这表明存在性别与条件的交互作用。全脑分析（SELF 与 OTHER）显示双侧脑岛、下、中、上额回激活。在男性中，这些相同区域的招募更多，但他们的压力评分明显更低。参与抑制控制和感官意识的区域的激活可能导致男性的压力评分明显降低。了解这些性别差异与应激和自我概念障碍有关。
