Impact of Physiological Changes in Various Region of The Brain Under Psychosocial Stress

Abstract

Psychosocial stress is the body’s response to psychological stressors faced by individuals due to external and internal factors that challenge psychological and emotional balance. Psychosocial stress is known to affect the structure and function of various regions in the brain, thereby affecting cognitive abilities and individual susceptibility to various psychopathological disorders. This literature review aims to examine the impact of physiological changes in various regions of the brain associated with responses to psychosocial stress. The main components of the stress system are the hypothalamus and brainstem and include corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) neurons from the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus, as well as CRH neurons from paragigantocellular and parabranchial nuclei of the medulla, as well as the locus coeruleus (LC) and another group of the cells that synthesize catecholamines, norepinephrine (NE) from the medulla and pons (central sympathetic nervous system). Furthermore, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, along with the efferent sympathetic/adrenomedullary system, form the peripheral component of this interconnected system. Psychosocial stress can predispose to cognitive and emotional deficits due to disruption in the brain connectivity of the various brain regions involved such as dorsal prefrontal cortex (PFC), ventral PFC, hippocampus and amygdala.