Although women and men differ in psychological and endocrine stress responses as well as in the prevalence rates of stress-related disorders, knowledge on sex differences regarding stress regulation in the brain is scarce. Therefore, we performed an in-depth analysis of data from 67 healthy participants (31 women, taking oral contraceptives), who were exposed to the ScanSTRESS paradigm in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Changes in cortisol, affect, heart rate and neural activation in response to psychosocial stress were examined in women and men as well as potential sex-specific interactions between stress response domains. Stress exposure led to significant cortisol increases, with men exhibiting higher levels than women. Depending on sex, cortisol elevations were differently associated with stress-related responses in striato-limbic structures: higher increases were associated with activations in men but with deactivations in women. Regarding affect or heart rate responses, no sex differences emerged. Although women and men differ in their overall stress reactivity, our findings do not support the idea of distinct neural networks as the base of this difference. Instead, we found differential stress reactions for women and men in identical structures. We propose considering quantitative predictors such as sex-specific cortisol increases when exploring neural response differences of women and men.

中文翻译：

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皮质醇与对心理社会压力的纹状体边缘反应之间的性别特异性相互作用

尽管女性和男性在心理和内分泌压力反应以及压力相关疾病的患病率方面存在差异，但关于大脑压力调节的性别差异的知识却很少。因此，我们对 67 名健康参与者（31 名女性，服用口服避孕药）的数据进行了深入分析，这些参与者在功能性磁共振成像研究中暴露于 ScanSTRESS 范式。在女性和男性中检查了皮质醇、情感、心率和神经激活对社会心理压力的反应的变化，以及压力反应域之间潜在的性别特异性相互作用。压力暴露导致皮质醇显着增加，男性的皮质醇水平高于女性。根据性别，皮质醇升高与纹状体边缘结构中压力相关反应的相关性不同：较高的增加与男性的激活有关，但与女性的失活有关。关于情感或心率反应，没有出现性别差异。尽管女性和男性在整体压力反应方面存在差异，但我们的研究结果并不支持将不同的神经网络作为这种差异基础的想法。相反，我们发现女性和男性在相同结构中的压力反应不同。我们建议在探索女性和男性的神经反应差异时考虑定量预测因素，例如性别特异性皮质醇的增加。尽管女性和男性在整体压力反应方面存在差异，但我们的研究结果并不支持将不同的神经网络作为这种差异基础的想法。相反，我们发现女性和男性在相同结构中的压力反应不同。我们建议在探索女性和男性的神经反应差异时考虑定量预测因素，例如性别特异性皮质醇的增加。尽管女性和男性在整体压力反应方面存在差异，但我们的研究结果并不支持将不同的神经网络作为这种差异基础的想法。相反，我们发现女性和男性在相同结构中的压力反应不同。我们建议在探索女性和男性的神经反应差异时考虑定量预测因素，例如性别特异性皮质醇的增加。