PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Marie Uhlig
AU  - Janis D. Reinelt
AU  - Mark E. Lauckner
AU  - Deniz Kumral
AU  - H. Lina Schaare
AU  - Toralf Mildner
AU  - Anahit Babayan
AU  - Harald E. Möller
AU  - Veronika Engert
AU  - Arno Villringer
AU  - Michael Gaebler
TI  - Rapid volumetric brain changes after acute psychosocial stress
AID  - 10.1101/2021.12.01.470604
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.12.01.470604
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/11/04/2021.12.01.470604.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/11/04/2021.12.01.470604.full
AB  - Stress is an important trigger for brain plasticity: Acute stress can rapidly affect brain activity and functional connectivity, and chronic or pathological stress has been associated with structural brain changes. Measures of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be modified by short-term motor learning or visual stimulation, suggesting that they also capture rapid brain changes. Here, we investigated volumetric brain changes (together with changes in T1 relaxation rate and cerebral blood flow) after acute stress in humans as well as their relation to psychophysiological stress measures.Sixty-seven healthy men (25.8±2.7 years) completed a standardized psychosocial laboratory stressor (Trier Social Stress Test) or a control version while blood, saliva, heart rate, and psychometrics were sampled. Structural MRI (T1 mapping / MP2RAGE sequence) at 3T was acquired 45 min before and 90 min after intervention onset. Grey matter volume (GMV) changes were analysed using voxel-based morphometry. Associations with endocrine, autonomic, and subjective stress measures were tested with linear models.We found significant group-by-time interactions in several brain clusters including anterior/mid-cingulate cortices and bilateral insula: GMV was increased in the stress group relative to the control group, in which several clusters showed a GMV decrease. We found a significant group-by-time interaction for cerebral blood flow, and a main effect of time for T1 values (longitudinal relaxation time). In addition, GMV changes were significantly associated with state anxiety and heart rate variability changes.Such rapid GMV changes assessed with VBM may be induced by local tissue adaptations to changes in energy demand following neural activity. Our findings suggest that endogenous brain changes are counteracted by acute psychosocial stress, which emphasizes the importance of considering homeodynamic processes and generally highlights the influence of stress on the brain.HighlightsWe investigated rapid brain changes using MRI in a stress and a control groupVBM-derived GMV showed a significant group-by-time interaction in several clustersMain pattern: GMV in the stress group increased relative to the control group, in which GMV decreasedGMV changes across groups were associated with state anxiety and heart rate variabilityNeither cerebral blood flow, nor T1 values fully account for the VBM resultsCompeting Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.