Journal ArticleDOI
The Concepts of Stress and Stress System Disorders: Overview of Physical and Behavioral Homeostasis
TLDR
The main components of the stress system are the corticotropin-releasing hormone and locus ceruleus-norepinephrine/autonomic systems and their peripheral effectors, the pituitary-adrenal axis, and the limbs of the autonomic system as discussed by the authors.Abstract:
Objective. —This article defines stress and related concepts and reviews their historical development. The notion of a stress system as the effector of the stress syndrome is suggested, and its physiologic and pathophysiologic manifestations are described. A new perspective on human disease states associated with dysregulation of the stress system is provided. Data Sources. —Published original articles from human and animal studies and selected reviews. Literature was surveyed utilizing MEDLINE and the Index Medicus . Study Selection. —Original articles from the basic science and human literature consisted entirely of controlled studies based on verified methodologies and, with the exception of the most recent studies, replicated by more than one laboratory. Many of the basic science and clinical studies had been conducted in our own laboratories and clinical research units. Reviews cited were written by acknowledged leaders in the fields of neurobiology, endocrinology, and behavior. Data Extraction. —Independent extraction and cross-referencing by the authors. Data Synthesis. —Stress and related concepts can be traced as far back as written science and medicine. The stress system coordinates the generalized stress response, which takes place when a stressor of any kind exceeds a threshold. The main components of the stress system are the corticotropin-releasing hormone and locus ceruleus-norepinephrine/autonomic systems and their peripheral effectors, the pituitary-adrenal axis, and the limbs of the autonomic system. Activation of the stress system leads to behavioral and peripheral changes that improve the ability of the organism to adjust homeostasis and increase its chances for survival. There has been an exponential increase in knowledge regarding the interactions among the components of the stress system and between the stress system and other brain elements involved in the regulation of emotion, cognitive function, and behavior, as well as with the axes responsible for reproduction, growth, and immunity. This new knowledge has allowed association of stress system dysfunction, characterized by sustained hyperactivity and/or hypoactivity, to various pathophysiologic states that cut across the traditional boundaries of medical disciplines. These include a range of psychiatric, endocrine, and inflammatory disorders and/or susceptibility to such disorders. Conclusions. —We hope that knowledge from apparently disparate fields of science and medicine integrated into a working theoretical framework will allow generation and testing of new hypotheses on the pathophysiology and diagnosis of, and therapy for, a variety of human illnesses reflecting systematic alterations in the principal effectors of the generalized stress response. We predict that pharmacologic agents capable of altering the central apparatus that governs the stress response will be useful in the treatment of many of these illnesses. ( JAMA . 1992;267:1244-1252)read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The adolescent brain and age-related behavioral manifestations
TL;DR: Developmental changes in prefrontal cortex and limbic brain regions of adolescents across a variety of species, alterations that include an apparent shift in the balance between mesocortical and mesolimbic dopamine systems likely contribute to the unique characteristics of adolescence.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stress and the brain: from adaptation to disease
TL;DR: In response to stress, the brain activates several neuropeptide-secreting systems, which eventually leads to the release of adrenal corticosteroid hormones, which subsequently feed back on the brain and bind to two types of nuclear receptor that act as transcriptional regulators as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stress and the Individual: Mechanisms Leading to Disease
Bruce S. McEwen,Eliot Stellar +1 more
TL;DR: A new formulation of the relationship between stress and the processes leading to disease is presented, emphasizing the cascading relationships between environmental factors and genetic predispositions that lead to large individual differences in susceptibility to stress and, in some cases, to disease.
Journal ArticleDOI
Risky Families: Family Social Environments and the Mental and Physical Health of Offspring
TL;DR: It is concluded that childhood family environments represent vital links for understanding mental and physical health across the life span.
Journal ArticleDOI
Drug addiction, dysregulation of reward, and allostasis.
George F. Koob,Michel Le Moal +1 more
TL;DR: The view that addiction is the pathology that results from an allostatic mechanism using the circuits established for natural rewards provides a realistic approach to identifying the neurobiological factors that produce vulnerability to addiction and relapse.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Physiological Functions of Glucocorticoids in Stress and Their Relation to Pharmacological Actions
TL;DR: It is proposed that stress-induced increases in glucocorticoid levels protect not against the source of stress itself but rather against the body's normal reactions to stress, preventing those reactions from overshooting and themselves threatening homeostasis.
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Organization of Ovine Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Immunoreactive Cells and Fibers in the Rat Brain: An Immunohistochemical Study
TL;DR: The results suggest that the PVH plays a critical role in the modulation of ACTH and beta-endorphin release from the pituitary, and that CRF-containing pathways in the brain are involved in the mediation of autonomic responses.
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Hypothalamic Integration: Organization of the Paraventricular and Supraoptic Nuclei
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Nucleus locus ceruleus: new evidence of anatomical and physiological specificity
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Elevated concentrations of CSF corticotropin-releasing factor-like immunoreactivity in depressed patients
Charles B. Nemeroff,Erik Widerlöv,Garth Bissette,Helena Walleus,Ingvar Karlsson,Kurt Eklund,Clinton D. Kilts,Peter T. Loosen,Wylie Vale +8 more
TL;DR: Findings are concordant with the hypothesis that CRF hypersecretion is, at least in part, responsible for the hyperactivity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis characteristic of major depression.