Amygdala size varies with stress perception

Inês Caetano; Liliana Amorim; José Miguel Soares; Sónia Ferreira; Ana Coelho; Joana Reis; Nadine Correia Santos; Pedro Silva Moreira; Paulo Marques; Ricardo Magalhães; Madalena Esteves; Maria Picó-Pérez; Nuno Sousa

doi:10.1016/j.ynstr.2021.100334

Amygdala size varies with stress perception

Neurobiol Stress. 2021 May 1:14:100334. doi: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2021.100334. eCollection 2021 May.

Authors

Inês Caetano^{1

2

3}, Liliana Amorim^{1

2

3

4}, José Miguel Soares^{1

2

3}, Sónia Ferreira^{1

2

3}, Ana Coelho^{1

2

3}, Joana Reis^{1

2

3}, Nadine Correia Santos^{1

2

3}, Pedro Silva Moreira^{1

2

3}, Paulo Marques^{1

2

3}, Ricardo Magalhães^{1

2

3

5

6}, Madalena Esteves^{1

2

3}, Maria Picó-Pérez^{1

2

3}, Nuno Sousa^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal.
² ICVS/3B's, PT Government Associate Laboratory, 4710-057, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal.
³ Clinical Academic Center - Braga, Braga, Portugal, 4710-057, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal.
⁴ Association P5 Digital Medical Center (ACMP5), 4710-057, Braga, Portugal.
⁵ NeuroSpin, Institut des Sciences du Vivant Frédéric Joliot, Commisariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, 91191, Gif-Sur-Yvette, France.
⁶ Université Paris-Saclay, 91191, Gif-Sur-Yvette, France.

Abstract

Stress is inevitably linked to life. It has many and complex facets. Notably, perception of stressful stimuli is an important factor when mounting stress responses and measuring its impact. Indeed, moved by the increasing number of stress-triggered pathologies, several groups drew on advanced neuroimaging techniques to explore stress effects on the brain. From that, several regions and circuits have been linked to stress, and a comprehensive integration of the distinct findings applied to common individuals is being pursued, but with conflicting results. Herein, we performed a volumetric regression analysis using participants' perceived stress as a variable of interest. Data shows that increased levels of perceived stress positively associate with the right amygdala and anterior hippocampal volumes.

Keywords: Amygdala; FSL, FMRIB Software Library; FWE-R, Family-wise error rate; FreeSurfer; GM, Gray matter; Healthy subjects; M, Mean; PSS10, 10-items Perceived Stress Scale; Perceived stress; ROI, Region-of-interest; SD, Standard deviation; TFCE, Threshold-free cluster enhancement; VBM, Voxel-based morphometry; Voxel-based morphometry; WM, White matter; eTIV, Estimated total intracranial volume.