Stress evokes stronger medial posterior cingulate deactivations during emotional distraction in slower paced aging

Publication date: Available online 2 March 2018
Source:Biological Psychology
Author(s): Nicole Y.L. Oei, Steffy W. Jansen, Ilya M. Veer, P.Eline Slagboom, Jeroen van de Grond, Diana van Heemst
IntroductionMiddle-aged offspring from long-lived families are thought to have a slower pace of aging, possibly related to HPA-axis function. Here, we investigated the neural and behavioral effects of social stress in offspring compared to their regular aging partners on emotional distraction during working memory (WM).Methods104 middle-aged participants (53 males) consisting of offspring and their partners underwent the Trier Social Stress Test or a control procedure. Hereafter, a WM task with emotional distracters was performed using fMRI. Saliva cortisol levels were obtained during the procedure.ResultsPartners had higher overall cortisol levels than offspring. In addition, partners had decreased deactivations compared to offspring in the medial posterior cingulate cortex (mPCC) during emotional distraction, which were significantly correlated with lower accuracy during emotional distraction.DiscussionmPCC-deactivations are known to be modulated by chronological aging, with more deactivations in the young than in the old. Here we show the same pattern in familial longevity versus regular aging after mild stress, with more deactivations related to better accuracy during emotional distraction. Functional mPCC deactivations might thus be related to pace of aging, and can be revealed by inducing mild stress.



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