Aging and Loneliness

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 187-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise C. Hawkley ◽  
John T. Cacioppo
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Stress Exposure ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
And Coping

Levels of loneliness are relatively stable across most of adult life, but correlates of loneliness show age differences. We review evidence of age differences in associations between loneliness and individual differences in health behaviors, stress exposure, physiological stress responses, appraisal and coping, and restorative processes. The effects of each of these pathways endow loneliness with the capacity to accelerate the rate of physiological decline with age. Additional research across the lifespan is required to understand the nature of accrued loneliness effects on health behavior and physiology in the short and long term.

Emotions and health: The impact of emotions, emotions regulation, music, and acculturation on health

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Bongard ◽  
Volker Hodapp ◽  
Sonja Rohrmann
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Anger Expression ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Cardiovascular Stress ◽  
Expression Behavior ◽  
Cardio Vascular ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Our unit investigates the relationship of emotional processes (experience, expression, and coping), their physiological correlates and possible health outcomes. We study domain specific anger expression behavior and associated cardio-vascular loads and found e.g. that particularly an open anger expression at work is associated with greater blood pressure. Furthermore, we demonstrated that women may be predisposed for the development of certain mental disorders because of their higher disgust sensitivity. We also pointed out that the suppression of negative emotions leads to increased physiological stress responses which results in a higher risk for cardiovascular diseases. We could show that relaxation as well as music activity like singing in a choir causes increases in the local immune parameter immunoglobuline A. Finally, we are investigating connections between migrants’ strategy of acculturation and health and found e.g. elevated cardiovascular stress responses in migrants when they where highly adapted to the German culture.

scholarly journals Behavioral medicine challenges in the shadow of a global pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alyssa T Brooks ◽  
Hannah K Allen ◽  
Louise Thornton ◽  
Tracy Trevorrow
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Health Behavior ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Future Data ◽  
Short And Long Term

Abstract Health behavior researchers should refocus and retool as it becomes increasingly clear that the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic surpass the direct effects of COVID-19 and include unique, drastic, and ubiquitous consequences for health behavior. The circumstances of the pandemic have created a natural experiment, allowing researchers focusing on a wide range of health behaviors and populations with the opportunity to use previously collected and future data to study: (a) changes in health behavior prepandemic and postpandemic, (b) health behavior prevalence and needs amidst the pandemic, and (c) the effects of the pandemic on short- and long-term health behavior. Our field is particularly challenged as we attempt to consider biopsychosocial, political, and environmental factors that affect health and health behavior. These realities, while daunting, should call us to action to refocus and retool our research, prevention, and intervention efforts

scholarly journals Approach to stress endocrine response: somatization in the context of gastroenterological symptoms: a systematic review

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 2537-2545
Author(s):  
Gülseren Keskin
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Gastrointestinal Symptoms ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Endocrine Response ◽  
Response To Stress

Background: Stress can be defined as an acute threat to the homeostasis of an organism, and in order to manage stress, and maintain stability, the allostatic systems activate an adaptive response. Stress has been shown to have both short - and long-term effects on the function of the gastrointestinal tract, but long-term exposure to stress is more likely to cause endocrine disorders.Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the endocrine response to stress, and evaluate the relationship between somatization and gastrointestinal symptoms.Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted on several academic databases, which included, Pubmed, EBSCO and Science Direct. The search was performed using the keywords, “endocrine response to stress”, “somatization” and “gastrointestinal symptoms”. Results: The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is essential in controlling physiological stress responses. Dysfunction is related to several mental disorders, including anxiety and depression, or somatization. Symptoms associated with genetic, or other traumatic experiences of individuals under stress, can lead to a maladaptive response to stress. These stressful life events were found to be associated with digestive system-related chronic diseases. Gastrointestinal disorders significantly affect millions of people worldwide. Conclusion: This study examined how the endocrine system responds to stress, and the effect this has in causing stress-related gastrointestinal distresses. Our findings indicate that stress-related psychological disorders are strongly associated with the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms.Keywords: Stress, endocrine response, somatization, gastrointestinal symptoms.

scholarly journals Genetic pathways underpinning hormonal stress responses in fish exposed to short- and long-term warm ocean temperatures

2021 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 106937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Goikoetxea ◽  
Bastien Sadoul ◽  
Eva Blondeau-Bidet ◽  
Johan Aerts ◽  
Marie-Odile Blanc ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Genetic Pathways ◽  
Short And Long Term

scholarly journals Plasticity and modulation of olfactory circuits in insects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Anton ◽  
Wolfgang Rössler
Keyword(s):  
Adult Life ◽  
Postembryonic Development ◽  
Social Hymenoptera ◽  
Abiotic Environment ◽  
Adult Age ◽  
Olfactory Systems ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Behavioral Maturation ◽  
Olfactory Plasticity

AbstractOlfactory circuits change structurally and physiologically during development and adult life. This allows insects to respond to olfactory cues in an appropriate and adaptive way according to their physiological and behavioral state, and to adapt to their specific abiotic and biotic natural environment. We highlight here findings on olfactory plasticity and modulation in various model and non-model insects with an emphasis on moths and social Hymenoptera. Different categories of plasticity occur in the olfactory systems of insects. One type relates to the reproductive or feeding state, as well as to adult age. Another type of plasticity is context-dependent and includes influences of the immediate sensory and abiotic environment, but also environmental conditions during postembryonic development, periods of adult behavioral maturation, and short- and long-term sensory experience. Finally, plasticity in olfactory circuits is linked to associative learning and memory formation. The vast majority of the available literature summarized here deals with plasticity in primary and secondary olfactory brain centers, but also peripheral modulation is treated. The described molecular, physiological, and structural neuronal changes occur under the influence of neuromodulators such as biogenic amines, neuropeptides, and hormones, but the mechanisms through which they act are only beginning to be analyzed.

The influence of stress exposure on physiological stress responses and body composition in preschool children

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 41-42
Author(s):  
Nadine Messerli-Buergy ◽  
Amar Arhab ◽  
Kerstin Stülb ◽  
Claudia Aschmann ◽  
Einat Brunner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Composition ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Stress Exposure

scholarly journals Nutrition in pregnancy: Basic principles and recommendations

2014 ◽  
Vol 142 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 125-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Draga Plecas ◽  
Snezana Plesinac ◽  
Olivera Kontic-Vucinic
Keyword(s):  
Adult Life ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Normal Ranges ◽  
Energy Needs ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Adverse Pregnancy ◽  
In Pregnancy

Healthy diet in pregnancy should guarantee proper fetal growth and development, maintain (and promote) maternal health and enable lactation. Nutritional counseling and interventions need to be an integral part of antenatal care and continue during pregnancy in order to reduce the risk of maternal, fetal and neonatal complications, as well as the short- and long-term adverse outcomes. Adverse pregnancy outcomes are more common in women who begin the gestation as undernourished or obese in comparison to pregnant women whose weight is within normal ranges. Increased nutritional and energy needs in pregnancy are met through numerous metabolic adaptations; pregnancy is successfully achieved within wide range of variations in energy supply and weight gain. However, if nutrient restriction exceeds the limits of adaptive responses, evidence indicates that fetus will develop the alternative metabolic competence that might emerge as a disease (type 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease and stroke) in adult life.

scholarly journals Non-invasive cortisol measurements as indicators of physiological stress responses in guinea pigs

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Nemeth ◽  
Elisabeth Pschernig ◽  
Bernard Wallner ◽  
Eva Millesi
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Biological Relevance ◽  
Saliva Cortisol ◽  
Cortisol Levels

Non-invasive measurements of glucocorticoid (GC) concentrations, including cortisol and corticosterone, serve as reliable indicators of adrenocortical activities and physiological stress loads in a variety of species. As an alternative to invasive analyses based on plasma, GC concentrations in saliva still represent single-point-of-time measurements, suitable for studying short-term or acute stress responses, whereas fecal GC metabolites (FGMs) reflect overall stress loads and stress responses after a species-specific time frame in the long-term. In our study species, the domestic guinea pig, GC measurements are commonly used to indicate stress responses to different environmental conditions, but the biological relevance of non-invasive measurements is widely unknown. We therefore established an experimental protocol based on the animals’ natural stress responses to different environmental conditions and compared GC levels in plasma, saliva, and fecal samples during non-stressful social isolations and stressful two-hour social confrontations with unfamiliar individuals. Plasma and saliva cortisol concentrations were significantly increased directly after the social confrontations, and plasma and saliva cortisol levels were strongly correlated. This demonstrates a high biological relevance of GC measurements in saliva. FGM levels measured 20 h afterwards, representing the reported mean gut passage time based on physiological validations, revealed that the overall stress load was not affected by the confrontations, but also no relations to plasma cortisol levels were detected. We therefore measured FGMs in two-hour intervals for 24 h after another social confrontation and detected significantly increased levels after four to twelve hours, reaching peak concentrations already after six hours. Our findings confirm that non-invasive GC measurements in guinea pigs are highly biologically relevant in indicating physiological stress responses compared to circulating levels in plasma in the short- and long-term. Our approach also underlines the importance of detailed investigations on how to use and interpret non-invasive measurements, including the determination of appropriate time points for sample collections.

scholarly journals Understanding the unfolding of stress regulation in infants

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (4pt2) ◽  
pp. 1431-1440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidemarie K. Laurent ◽  
Gordon T. Harold ◽  
Leslie Leve ◽  
Katherine H. Shelton ◽  
Stephanie H. M. Van Goozen
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Stress Regulation ◽  
Family Effects ◽  
Level Model ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Mental And Physical Health ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Pituitary Adrenal Axis

AbstractEarly identification of problems with psychosocial stress regulation is important for supporting mental and physical health. However, we currently lack knowledge about when reliable individual differences in stress-responsive physiology emerge and which aspects of maternal behavior determine the unfolding of infants' stress responses. Knowledge of these processes is further limited by analytic approaches that do not account for multiple levels of within- and between-family effects. In a low-risk sample (n= 100 dyads), we observed infant cortisol and mother/infant behavior during regular play and stress sessions longitudinally from age 1 to 3, and used a three-level model to separately examine variability in infant cortisol trajectories within sessions, across years, and across infants. Stable individual differences in hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis regulation were observed in the first 3 years of life. Infants of less sensitive and more intrusive mothers manifested stress sensitization, that is, elevated cortisol levels during and following stress exposure, a profile related to behavioral distress. These findings have important practical implications, suggesting that children at risk for long-term stress dysregulation may be identified in the earliest years of life.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document