Social stress, cortisol awakening response and sex: association with hippocampus and amygdala volume.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala, both major hubs for neural stress regulation amongst others, are associated with social stressors, cortisol awakening response (CAR) and sex. Importantly, the interplay of these different factors in affecting the morphology of both brain regions remains unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the intricate influence of these factors on grey matter volumes (GMV) of the hippocampus and amygdala.

Methods

We analyzed associations between structural brain data, self-reported chronic social stress (including subscales on social tension, social overload, lack of social recognition and social isolation) and CAR of 83 healthy participants (40 females) with multiple regression analyses.

Results

In males, but not females, higher

SUBMITTER: Wang R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12690870 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature