MSGID: 1:317/3 6427b373   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Study examines how social rank affects response to stress    
      
     Date:   
         March 31, 2023   
     Source:   
         Tulane University   
     Summary:   
         Scientists say their study could shed light on stress-related   
         mental illnesses but that more research is needed.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Can an individual's social status have an impact on their level of stress?   
   Researchers at Tulane University put that question to the test and   
   believe that social rank, particularly in females, does indeed affect   
   the stress response.   
      
      
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   In a study published in Current Biology, Tulane psychology professor   
   Jonathan Fadok, PhD, and postdoctoral researcher Lydia Smith-Osborne   
   looked at two forms of psychosocial stress -- social isolation and social   
   instability -- and how they manifest themselves based on social rank.   
      
   They conducted their research on adult female mice, putting them in   
   pairs and allowing them to form a stable social relationship over several   
   days. In each pair, one of the mice had high, or dominant social status,   
   while the other was considered the subordinate with relatively low   
   social status. After establishing a baseline, they monitored changes in   
   behavior, stress hormones and neuronal activation in response to chronic   
   social stress.   
      
   "We analyzed how these different forms of stress impact behavior and   
   the stress hormone corticosterone (an analogue of the human hormone,   
   cortisol) in individuals based on their social rank," said Fadok,   
   an assistant professor in the Tulane Department of Psychology and the   
   Tulane Brain Institute. "We also looked throughout the brain to identify   
   brain areas that are activated in response to psychosocial stress."   
   "We found that not only does rank inform how an individual responds to   
   chronic psychosocial stress, but that the type of stress also matters,"   
   said Smith- Osborne, a DVM/PhD and the first author on the study.   
      
   She discovered that mice with lower social status were more susceptible   
   to social instability, which is akin to ever-changing or inconsistent   
   social groups. Those with higher rank were more susceptible to social   
   isolation, or loneliness.   
      
   There were also differences in the parts of the brain that became   
   activated by social encounters, based upon the social status of the animal   
   responding to it and whether they had experienced psychosocial stress.   
      
   "Some areas of a dominant animal's brain would react differently to   
   social isolation than to social uncertainty, for example," Smith-Osborne   
   said. "And this was also true for subordinates. Rank gave the animals   
   a unique neurobiological 'fingerprint' for how they responded to   
   chronic stress."  Do the researchers think the results can translate to   
   people? Perhaps, Fadok said.   
      
   "Overall, these findings may have implications for understanding the   
   impact that social status and social networks have on the prevalence   
   of stress-related mental illnesses such as generalized anxiety disorder   
   and major depression," he said. "However, future studies that use more   
   complex social situations are needed before these results can translate   
   to humans."   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Psychology # Anxiety # Social_Psychology # Stress #   
                   Relationships # Psychiatry # Mental_Health # Depression   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Psychopathology o Psychology o Philosophy_of_mind o   
             Social_cognition o Aptitude o Collaboration o Psychologist   
             o Controversy_about_ADHD   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Tulane_University. Note: Content   
   may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Lydia Smith-Osborne, Anh Duong, Alexis Resendez, Rupert Palme,   
      Jonathan   
         P. Fadok. Female dominance hierarchies influence responses to   
         psychosocial stressors. Current Biology, 2023; DOI: 10.1016/   
         j.cub.2023.03.020   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230331131508.htm   
      
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