There are many examples of females having increased sensitivity to stress, particularly in the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system. It has now been shown in females but not males, that early life stress is reflected in increased activity of the HPA system in childhood and this relates to decreased amygdala-ventral prefrontal cortex coupling which in turn differentially relates to the expression of anxiety or depression symptoms in adolescence.
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A Female Specific Patyway for Anxiety and Depression
A Female Specific Pathway from Early Life Stress to Adolescent Anxiety and DepressionELS predicts CCL and CCL predicts A–PFC which differentially relates to Anx and Dep symptoms. This indicates that ELS alters childhood Hypothalamic – Pituitary – Adrenal function that alters adolescent Amygdala-Prefrontal cortex function that regulates expression of Anxiety and Depression symptoms.Data from 28 females and 29 males in the Wisconsin study of families and work. Pearson correlations, partial correlations and structural equation models indicated that the pathway was only operant in females. Measures of life stress and cortisol at age 18 did not relate to A–PFC or Anx or Dep symptoms. 1. ELS: Maternal stress was measured with a composite of depression symptoms, parenting stress, marital conflict role overload and financial stress. 2. CCL: Salivary cortisol at 6 pm on 3 consecutive days. 3. A–PFC: Measured with resting state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging. 4. Anx., Dep.: Measured with the MacArthur health and behavior questionnaire. (Constructed from data in Burghy, C.A. et al. Nature Neuroscience, 15: 1736 – 1741, 2012.) ©2012 NBEP
