The COVID-19 pandemic is a global stressor with inter-individually differing influences on mental... more The COVID-19 pandemic is a global stressor with inter-individually differing influences on mental health trajectories. Polygenic Risk Scores (PRSs) for psychiatric phenotypes are associated with individual mental health predispositions. Elevated hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) and high PRSs are related to negative mental health outcomes. We analyzed whether PRSs and HCC are related to different mental health trajectories during the first COVID lockdown in Germany. Among 523 participants selected from the longitudinal resilience assessment study (LORA), we previously reported three subgroups (acute dysfunction, delayed dysfunction, resilient) based on weekly mental health (GHQ-28) assessment during COVID lockdown. DNA from blood was collected at the baseline of the original LORA study (n = 364) and used to calculate the PRSs of 12 different psychopathological phenotypes. An explorative bifactor model with Schmid-Leiman transformation was calculated to extract a general genetic fac...
Recently, cross-sectional relationships between psycho-social resilience factors (RFs) and resili... more Recently, cross-sectional relationships between psycho-social resilience factors (RFs) and resilience, operationalized as an outcome of low reactivity of mental health to stressor exposure (low ‘stressor reactivity’) during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, were reported. Extending these findings, we here examine prospective relationships and weekly dynamics between the same RFs and stressor reactivity in a longitudinal sample during the aftermath of the first wave in several European countries. Over five weeks of app-based assessments, participants weekly reported stressor exposure, mental health problems, RFs, and demographic data, in one of six different languages. As (partly) preregistered, hypotheses were tested cross-sectionally at baseline (N=558) and longitudinally (N=200), using mixed effects models and mediation analyses. RFs at baseline, including positive appraisal style, optimism, self-efficacy, perceived good stress recovery, and perceived social support, were n...
ZUSAMMENFASSUNGDas Leibniz-Institut für Resilienzforschung (LIR) vereint durch seine einzigartige... more ZUSAMMENFASSUNGDas Leibniz-Institut für Resilienzforschung (LIR) vereint durch seine einzigartige interdisziplinäre Forschungsprogrammatik translationale, transdiagnostische und mehrdimensionale Resilienzforschung mit angewandter Gesundheitsprävention und Wissenstransfer in die Gesellschaft in einem Institut. Die aus der Grundlagen- und klinischen Resilienzforschung gewonnenen neurobiologischen und humanpsychologischen Erkenntnisse werden dazu genutzt, übergeordnete Resilienzmechanismen im Gehirn besser zu verstehen. Darauf basierend werden effektive und evidenzbasierte Präventionsprogramme entwickelt, die Betroffenen helfen, besser mit Stress, widrigen Lebensumständen und psychischen Erkrankungen umzugehen. Zudem wird dem Transfer der Forschungs- und Entwicklungsergebnisse des LIR in die Fach- und allgemeine Öffentlichkeit ein besonderer Stellenwert eingeräumt. Durch seinen gesamtgesellschaftlichen Ansatz trägt das LIR nicht nur im Rahmen der Verhaltens-, sondern auch der Verhältni...
The dopamine precursor L-DOPA is a promising adjunct to exposure therapy in anxiety disorders. In... more The dopamine precursor L-DOPA is a promising adjunct to exposure therapy in anxiety disorders. In two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies we previously showed that a post-extinction administration of L-DOPA reduces the return of fear. However, when aiming to replicate these results outside the MRI scanner, we found weaker effects – albeit with an adjusted paradigm. In order to discern whether the discrepant results can be explained by the experimental environment (in- vs. outside MRI scanner) or the differences in the paradigms, we here replicated a previous MRI paradigm outside the MRI scanner. In total, N=50 male participants underwent fear conditioning on day 1 and extinction on day 2. We tested the effect of post-extinction L-DOPA compared to placebo administration on differential skin conductance responses (SCR) during test on day 3. In contrast to previous findings in the MRI scanner, there was no reduction of differential SCRs after L-DOPA compared to placebo intake at t...
Stress-related mental disorders are highly prevalent and pose a significant burden on individuals... more Stress-related mental disorders are highly prevalent and pose a significant burden on individuals and society. Improving strategies of their treatment and prevention requires knowledge about risk and resilience. This multi-center study aims to contribute to this endeavor by investigating psychological resilience in healthy, but vulnerable young adults over nine months. Resilience is operationalized as maintained or quickly recovered mental health despite exposure to stressors and assessed longitudinally in a frequent monitoring approach. We aim to investigate factors predicting, and adaptive processes and mechanisms contributing to mental resilience, and to provide a methodological and evidence-based framework for later intervention studies.In a multi-center setting, across five research sites, a sample with the total target size of N=250 male and female young adults is assessed longitudinally over nine months. Participants are included if they had an elevated level of (internalizin...
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 2021
Substantial evidence shows that physical activity and fitness play a protective role in the devel... more Substantial evidence shows that physical activity and fitness play a protective role in the development of stress related disorders. However, the beneficial effects of fitness for resilience to modern life stress are not fully understood. Potentially protective effects may be attributed to enhanced resilience via underlying psychosocial mechanisms such as self-efficacy expectations. This study investigated whether physical activity and fitness contribute to prospectively measured resilience and examined the mediating effect of general self-efficacy. 431 initially healthy adults participated in fitness assessments as part of a longitudinal-prospective study, designed to identify mechanisms of resilience. Self-efficacy and habitual activity were assessed in parallel to cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, which were determined by a submaximal step-test, hand strength and standing long jump test. Resilience was indexed by stressor reactivity: mental health problems in relation to re...
Highly arousing, affective stimuli have adverse effects on cognition and performance. Perception ... more Highly arousing, affective stimuli have adverse effects on cognition and performance. Perception of affective stimuli is, however, highly subjective and may impact on the interaction of emotion and cognition. Here, we tested the impact of high- versus low-threatening stimuli on response inhibition as a function of perceived threat intensity. Response inhibition was probed using a stop-signal paradigm in 62 healthy adults. We used stop-signals that had previously been paired with an unpleasant electrodermal stimulation (i.e., high-threat stimuli) or that had never been paired with electrodermal stimulation (i.e., low-threat stimuli). High-threat stimuli did not affect stopping performance in general. Only participants who perceived the high-threat stimuli as highly painful showed impaired response inhibition on high-threat trials relative to low-threat trials. Participants who perceived the high-threat as mildly painful, however, showed improved response inhibition on high-threat trials. This effect was not moderated by the current anxious state. This suggests that the impact of negative affective stimuli on cognition critically depends on subjective threat perception. Ratings of affective stimuli should be included in studies probing the emotion-cognition interaction because subjective perception might strongly impact on that interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
sible occurrence of an aversive unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the CS becomes a threat-predicting ... more sible occurrence of an aversive unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the CS becomes a threat-predicting CS+ (threat condition; online suppl. 1/2; see www.karger.com/doi/10.1159/000495367 for all online suppl. material). We hypothesize that pathological fear/threat appraisal in AN results in a hyperresponsive FN [9]. In women who recovered from AN (RE), persistent changes in the FN would indicate an endophenotype or “scar” from the disorder. We studied 31 AN, 32 controls (HC), and 23 well-recovered women without psychotropic medication. In the supplements, we provide details of the sample (online suppl. 3), measurements, analyses, and results (online suppl. 4–10). During the instructed fear paradigm, fMRI (online suppl. 7) and galvanic skin conductance response (GSR; online suppl. 5), a common measure of a fear reaction, were recorded in two separate runs. After each run, participants indicated whether they perceived a UCS and rated their UCS expectancy. Hormonal parameters were also obtained (cortisol, oxytocin; online suppl. 6). Apart from substantially higher eating disorder pathology, the AN group showed increased trait anxiety ratings (online suppl. 3). All participants were aware of the stimulus contingencies. In comparison to HC, AN lacked a differential blood oxygen level-dependent response towards the threat (CS+) condition in large parts of the FN (1,785 voxels) covering the ACC, dACC/dmPFC, dorsolateral PFC, AI, and inferior frontal gyrus (Fig. 1a, b; online suppl. Table 2). Superior and inferior parietal lobe function were unaltered in AN (Fig. 1a; online suppl. 8). RE did not differ from HC. Furthermore, beta estimates of the voxels with the largest group difference (AN < HC) indicate that the activation pattern in RE largely recovers (online suppl. 9; Fig. 1a). Across groups, higher trait anxiety scores were related to less neural activity in the dACC/ dmPFC (online suppl. 10). Additional analyses correcting for depressiveness, total brain volume, and age confirmed the aforementioned results (online suppl. 9). UCS expectancy significantly declined from run 1 to run 2 and no significant group difference emerged (online suppl. 4). The GSR showed two significant interactions, namely group × phase and group × condition × run (online suppl. 5), indicating a blunting physiological threat reaction in the AN group. The RE group showed results similar to HC. A significant reduction in threat-induced FN activity in AN contradicts the hypothesis of a generally hyperreactive FN [2, 9]. Rather, basic processing (e.g., fear expression and appraisal) and regulation of externally induced fear is hampered in the state of AN. These data contrast with the results of a hyperreactive FN in AN when confronted with disorder-specific stimuli (e.g., food images) [2, 3]. Importantly, the superior and inferior parietal lobe responses were not different in AN, so that the basic stimulus perception and discrimination seems to be intact. The absence of a threat-related increase in dACC/dmPFC activation is important, as this structure plays a crucial role in conscious fear appraisal [6]. Insufficient fear appraisal can lead to diDear Editor, Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) persistently restrict food intake due to intense fear of weight gain and/or body image disturbances. Merely looking at food images can already elicit psychophysiological fear and avoidance responses [1], which are reflected in an activation of the so-called fear network (FN) [2, 3]. This observation has been interpreted as “fear of food” and could have its origin in an anxious-avoidant personality that predisposes the development of AN [2]. Therefore, abnormal fear processing is thought to play a key role in AN pathophysiology [2]. In contrast, a persistent restriction of food intake can reduce anxiety [4]. The FN comprises the amygdala and hippocampus as well as anterior insular (AI), anterior cingulate (ACC), and prefrontal cortices (PFC) [5]. The dorsal ACC (dACC) and its transition into the dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) are involved in conscious emotional appraisal [6] and may play a pivotal role in the reported negative appraisal of food stimuli in AN [7]. A hyperreactive dACC/dmPFC and other areas of the FN are observable in generalized anxiety disorder and specific phobias [6]. A current AN model [8] suggests that a high baseline anxiety level in patients fosters fear of food intake and food avoidance. Accordingly, the importance of studying neurobiological correlates of fear learning in AN has been emphasized [2, 9]. We studied neurobiological fear correlates using an instructed fear fMRI paradigm that triggers anticipatory anxiety. By verbally linking an initially neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) with the posReceived: February 22, 2018 Accepted after revision: November 11, 2018 Published online: December 17, 2018
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global stressor with inter-individually differing influences on mental... more The COVID-19 pandemic is a global stressor with inter-individually differing influences on mental health trajectories. Polygenic Risk Scores (PRSs) for psychiatric phenotypes are associated with individual mental health predispositions. Elevated hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) and high PRSs are related to negative mental health outcomes. We analyzed whether PRSs and HCC are related to different mental health trajectories during the first COVID lockdown in Germany. Among 523 participants selected from the longitudinal resilience assessment study (LORA), we previously reported three subgroups (acute dysfunction, delayed dysfunction, resilient) based on weekly mental health (GHQ-28) assessment during COVID lockdown. DNA from blood was collected at the baseline of the original LORA study (n = 364) and used to calculate the PRSs of 12 different psychopathological phenotypes. An explorative bifactor model with Schmid-Leiman transformation was calculated to extract a general genetic fac...
Recently, cross-sectional relationships between psycho-social resilience factors (RFs) and resili... more Recently, cross-sectional relationships between psycho-social resilience factors (RFs) and resilience, operationalized as an outcome of low reactivity of mental health to stressor exposure (low ‘stressor reactivity’) during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, were reported. Extending these findings, we here examine prospective relationships and weekly dynamics between the same RFs and stressor reactivity in a longitudinal sample during the aftermath of the first wave in several European countries. Over five weeks of app-based assessments, participants weekly reported stressor exposure, mental health problems, RFs, and demographic data, in one of six different languages. As (partly) preregistered, hypotheses were tested cross-sectionally at baseline (N=558) and longitudinally (N=200), using mixed effects models and mediation analyses. RFs at baseline, including positive appraisal style, optimism, self-efficacy, perceived good stress recovery, and perceived social support, were n...
ZUSAMMENFASSUNGDas Leibniz-Institut für Resilienzforschung (LIR) vereint durch seine einzigartige... more ZUSAMMENFASSUNGDas Leibniz-Institut für Resilienzforschung (LIR) vereint durch seine einzigartige interdisziplinäre Forschungsprogrammatik translationale, transdiagnostische und mehrdimensionale Resilienzforschung mit angewandter Gesundheitsprävention und Wissenstransfer in die Gesellschaft in einem Institut. Die aus der Grundlagen- und klinischen Resilienzforschung gewonnenen neurobiologischen und humanpsychologischen Erkenntnisse werden dazu genutzt, übergeordnete Resilienzmechanismen im Gehirn besser zu verstehen. Darauf basierend werden effektive und evidenzbasierte Präventionsprogramme entwickelt, die Betroffenen helfen, besser mit Stress, widrigen Lebensumständen und psychischen Erkrankungen umzugehen. Zudem wird dem Transfer der Forschungs- und Entwicklungsergebnisse des LIR in die Fach- und allgemeine Öffentlichkeit ein besonderer Stellenwert eingeräumt. Durch seinen gesamtgesellschaftlichen Ansatz trägt das LIR nicht nur im Rahmen der Verhaltens-, sondern auch der Verhältni...
The dopamine precursor L-DOPA is a promising adjunct to exposure therapy in anxiety disorders. In... more The dopamine precursor L-DOPA is a promising adjunct to exposure therapy in anxiety disorders. In two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies we previously showed that a post-extinction administration of L-DOPA reduces the return of fear. However, when aiming to replicate these results outside the MRI scanner, we found weaker effects – albeit with an adjusted paradigm. In order to discern whether the discrepant results can be explained by the experimental environment (in- vs. outside MRI scanner) or the differences in the paradigms, we here replicated a previous MRI paradigm outside the MRI scanner. In total, N=50 male participants underwent fear conditioning on day 1 and extinction on day 2. We tested the effect of post-extinction L-DOPA compared to placebo administration on differential skin conductance responses (SCR) during test on day 3. In contrast to previous findings in the MRI scanner, there was no reduction of differential SCRs after L-DOPA compared to placebo intake at t...
Stress-related mental disorders are highly prevalent and pose a significant burden on individuals... more Stress-related mental disorders are highly prevalent and pose a significant burden on individuals and society. Improving strategies of their treatment and prevention requires knowledge about risk and resilience. This multi-center study aims to contribute to this endeavor by investigating psychological resilience in healthy, but vulnerable young adults over nine months. Resilience is operationalized as maintained or quickly recovered mental health despite exposure to stressors and assessed longitudinally in a frequent monitoring approach. We aim to investigate factors predicting, and adaptive processes and mechanisms contributing to mental resilience, and to provide a methodological and evidence-based framework for later intervention studies.In a multi-center setting, across five research sites, a sample with the total target size of N=250 male and female young adults is assessed longitudinally over nine months. Participants are included if they had an elevated level of (internalizin...
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 2021
Substantial evidence shows that physical activity and fitness play a protective role in the devel... more Substantial evidence shows that physical activity and fitness play a protective role in the development of stress related disorders. However, the beneficial effects of fitness for resilience to modern life stress are not fully understood. Potentially protective effects may be attributed to enhanced resilience via underlying psychosocial mechanisms such as self-efficacy expectations. This study investigated whether physical activity and fitness contribute to prospectively measured resilience and examined the mediating effect of general self-efficacy. 431 initially healthy adults participated in fitness assessments as part of a longitudinal-prospective study, designed to identify mechanisms of resilience. Self-efficacy and habitual activity were assessed in parallel to cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, which were determined by a submaximal step-test, hand strength and standing long jump test. Resilience was indexed by stressor reactivity: mental health problems in relation to re...
Highly arousing, affective stimuli have adverse effects on cognition and performance. Perception ... more Highly arousing, affective stimuli have adverse effects on cognition and performance. Perception of affective stimuli is, however, highly subjective and may impact on the interaction of emotion and cognition. Here, we tested the impact of high- versus low-threatening stimuli on response inhibition as a function of perceived threat intensity. Response inhibition was probed using a stop-signal paradigm in 62 healthy adults. We used stop-signals that had previously been paired with an unpleasant electrodermal stimulation (i.e., high-threat stimuli) or that had never been paired with electrodermal stimulation (i.e., low-threat stimuli). High-threat stimuli did not affect stopping performance in general. Only participants who perceived the high-threat stimuli as highly painful showed impaired response inhibition on high-threat trials relative to low-threat trials. Participants who perceived the high-threat as mildly painful, however, showed improved response inhibition on high-threat trials. This effect was not moderated by the current anxious state. This suggests that the impact of negative affective stimuli on cognition critically depends on subjective threat perception. Ratings of affective stimuli should be included in studies probing the emotion-cognition interaction because subjective perception might strongly impact on that interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
sible occurrence of an aversive unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the CS becomes a threat-predicting ... more sible occurrence of an aversive unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the CS becomes a threat-predicting CS+ (threat condition; online suppl. 1/2; see www.karger.com/doi/10.1159/000495367 for all online suppl. material). We hypothesize that pathological fear/threat appraisal in AN results in a hyperresponsive FN [9]. In women who recovered from AN (RE), persistent changes in the FN would indicate an endophenotype or “scar” from the disorder. We studied 31 AN, 32 controls (HC), and 23 well-recovered women without psychotropic medication. In the supplements, we provide details of the sample (online suppl. 3), measurements, analyses, and results (online suppl. 4–10). During the instructed fear paradigm, fMRI (online suppl. 7) and galvanic skin conductance response (GSR; online suppl. 5), a common measure of a fear reaction, were recorded in two separate runs. After each run, participants indicated whether they perceived a UCS and rated their UCS expectancy. Hormonal parameters were also obtained (cortisol, oxytocin; online suppl. 6). Apart from substantially higher eating disorder pathology, the AN group showed increased trait anxiety ratings (online suppl. 3). All participants were aware of the stimulus contingencies. In comparison to HC, AN lacked a differential blood oxygen level-dependent response towards the threat (CS+) condition in large parts of the FN (1,785 voxels) covering the ACC, dACC/dmPFC, dorsolateral PFC, AI, and inferior frontal gyrus (Fig. 1a, b; online suppl. Table 2). Superior and inferior parietal lobe function were unaltered in AN (Fig. 1a; online suppl. 8). RE did not differ from HC. Furthermore, beta estimates of the voxels with the largest group difference (AN < HC) indicate that the activation pattern in RE largely recovers (online suppl. 9; Fig. 1a). Across groups, higher trait anxiety scores were related to less neural activity in the dACC/ dmPFC (online suppl. 10). Additional analyses correcting for depressiveness, total brain volume, and age confirmed the aforementioned results (online suppl. 9). UCS expectancy significantly declined from run 1 to run 2 and no significant group difference emerged (online suppl. 4). The GSR showed two significant interactions, namely group × phase and group × condition × run (online suppl. 5), indicating a blunting physiological threat reaction in the AN group. The RE group showed results similar to HC. A significant reduction in threat-induced FN activity in AN contradicts the hypothesis of a generally hyperreactive FN [2, 9]. Rather, basic processing (e.g., fear expression and appraisal) and regulation of externally induced fear is hampered in the state of AN. These data contrast with the results of a hyperreactive FN in AN when confronted with disorder-specific stimuli (e.g., food images) [2, 3]. Importantly, the superior and inferior parietal lobe responses were not different in AN, so that the basic stimulus perception and discrimination seems to be intact. The absence of a threat-related increase in dACC/dmPFC activation is important, as this structure plays a crucial role in conscious fear appraisal [6]. Insufficient fear appraisal can lead to diDear Editor, Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) persistently restrict food intake due to intense fear of weight gain and/or body image disturbances. Merely looking at food images can already elicit psychophysiological fear and avoidance responses [1], which are reflected in an activation of the so-called fear network (FN) [2, 3]. This observation has been interpreted as “fear of food” and could have its origin in an anxious-avoidant personality that predisposes the development of AN [2]. Therefore, abnormal fear processing is thought to play a key role in AN pathophysiology [2]. In contrast, a persistent restriction of food intake can reduce anxiety [4]. The FN comprises the amygdala and hippocampus as well as anterior insular (AI), anterior cingulate (ACC), and prefrontal cortices (PFC) [5]. The dorsal ACC (dACC) and its transition into the dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) are involved in conscious emotional appraisal [6] and may play a pivotal role in the reported negative appraisal of food stimuli in AN [7]. A hyperreactive dACC/dmPFC and other areas of the FN are observable in generalized anxiety disorder and specific phobias [6]. A current AN model [8] suggests that a high baseline anxiety level in patients fosters fear of food intake and food avoidance. Accordingly, the importance of studying neurobiological correlates of fear learning in AN has been emphasized [2, 9]. We studied neurobiological fear correlates using an instructed fear fMRI paradigm that triggers anticipatory anxiety. By verbally linking an initially neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) with the posReceived: February 22, 2018 Accepted after revision: November 11, 2018 Published online: December 17, 2018
Uploads