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Psychosocial
models of chronic disease risk posit that the central processing of threat-related
information mediates the relationship between such factors as lower socioeconomic status and exaggerated cardiovascular reactions (e.g., large and sustained rises in blood pressure) to acute stressors-reactions that may facilitate the development of hypertension and atherosclerosis. However, individual differences in the functional neural processing of threat-related information and their association with patterns of cardiovascular reactivity to acute stressors have not been examined to date. Thus, the central pathways that mediate the relationships between psychosocial risk factors for chronic disease and acute cardiovascular stressor responses remain largely unknown. This pilot study will test the working hypothesis that the processing of treat-related information is supported by two brain systems that also regulate cardiovascular reactions to acute stressors: the medial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. To test this hypothesis, we will examine whether functional neural responses in the medial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala to facial expressions that depict threat (anger or fear) or a potential threat (surprise) predict the magnitude of an individual’s cardiovascular reaction to a subsequently presented stressor. The methods that will be used to examine these relationships are as follows: We will recruit 30 healthy male undergraduates to participate in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. In this fMRI study, participants will view standardized images of emotional facial expressions that are known to engage the medial prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. Participants will then complete a behavioral stressor, which was |
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part of Pittsburgh Mind-Body Center (PMBC) l to study cardiovascular reactivity
in fMRI
experiments. Participants will also complete questionnaires that assess the core psychosocial measures of the PMBC. This pilot project will provide for a preliminary test that a specific neurobehavioral pathway links individual differences in the processing of threat-related information with a putative risk factor for cardiovascular disease: cardiovascular reactivity to acute stressors. By administering core PMBC psychosocial instruments, this pilot study will also provide a novel opportunity to explore the relationships between psychosocial risk factors for chronic disease and functional neural reactivity to emotional stimuli and a standardized behavioral stressor. (PDF VERSION)
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| 11/19/2005 LA / tc |
