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Acute stress promotes brain network integration and reduces state transition variability.

ABSTRACT: Despite the prevalence of stress, how brains reconfigure their multilevel, hierarchical functional organization in response to acute stress remains unclear. We examined changes in brain networks after social stress using whole-brain resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) by extending our recently published nested-spectral partition method, which quantified the functional balance between network segregation and integration. Acute stress was found to shift the brain into a more integrated and less segregated state, especially in frontal-temporal regions. Stress also stabilized brain states by reducing the variability of dynamic transition between segregated and integrated states. Transition frequency was associated with the change of cortisol, and transition variability was correlated with cognitive control. Our results show that brain networks tend to be more integrated and less variable after acute stress, possibly to enable efficient coping.

SUBMITTER: Wang R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9214508 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Acute stress promotes brain network integration and reduces state transition variability.

Wang Rong R Zhen Shanshan S Zhou Changsong C Yu Rongjun R

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20220606 24

Despite the prevalence of stress, how brains reconfigure their multilevel, hierarchical functional organization in response to acute stress remains unclear. We examined changes in brain networks after social stress using whole-brain resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) by extending our recently published nested-spectral partition method, which quantified the functional balance between network segregation and integration. Acute stress was found to shift the brain into a more integrated and less se ...[more]

PMID: 35666866

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Project description:Background: Altered resting-state functional connectivity has been found in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the alteration of resting-state functional connectivity at whole-brain level in typhoon-traumatized individuals with PTSD remains largely unknown. Objectives: To investigate changes in whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity and brain network topology in typhoon-traumatized subjects with and without PTSD. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Twenty-seven patients with typhoon-related PTSD, 33 trauma-exposed controls (TEC), and 30 healthy controls (HC) underwent resting-state functional MRI scanning. The whole brain resting-state functional connectivity network was constructed based on the automated anatomical labeling atlas. The graph theory method was used to analyze the topological properties of the large-scale resting-state functional connectivity network. Whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity and the topological network property were compared by analyzing the variance. Results: There was no significant difference in the area under the curve of γ, λ, σ, global efficiency, and local efficiency among the three groups. The PTSD group showed increased dorsal cingulate cortex (dACC) resting-state functional connectivity with the postcentral gyrus (PoCG) and paracentral lobe and increased nodal betweenness centrality in the precuneus relative to both control groups. Compared with the PTSD and HC groups, the TEC group showed increased resting-state functional connectivity between the hippocampus and PoCG and increased connectivity strength in the putamen. In addition, compared with the HC group, both the PTSD and TEC groups showed increased connectivity strength and nodal efficiency in the insula. Conclusion: Aberrant resting-state functional connectivity and topology were found in all trauma-exposed individuals. These findings broaden our knowledge of the neuropathological mechanisms of PTSD.

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Acute stress promotes brain network integration and reduces state transition variability.

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Acute stress promotes brain network integration and reduces state transition variability.

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