fMRI Revealed Reduced Amygdala Activation after Nx4 in Mildly to Moderately Stressed Healthy Volunteers in a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Cross-Over Trial

Social stress contributes to major societal health burdens, such as anxiety disorders and nervousness. Nx4 has been found to modulate stress responses. We investigated whether dampening of such responses is associated with neuronal correlates in brain regions involved in stress and anxiety. In a ran...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2020-03, Vol.10 (1), p.3802-3802, Article 3802
Main Authors: Herrmann, Luisa, Vicheva, Petya, Kasties, Vanessa, Danyeli, Lena V., Szycik, Gregor R., Denzel, Dominik, Fan, Yan, Meer, Johan Van der, Vester, Johannes C., Eskoetter, Herbert, Schultz, Myron, Walter, Martin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
59/36
631/378/1689/1831
692/308/575
Adult
Amygdala
Amygdala - diagnostic imaging
Amygdala - drug effects
Amygdala - physiopathology
Anxiety
Brain
Brain mapping
Cross-Over Studies
Double-Blind Method
Female
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Healthy Volunteers
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
multidisciplinary
Neural networks
Plant Extracts - pharmacology
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Social interactions
Statistical analysis
Stress, Psychological - diagnostic imaging
Stress, Psychological - physiopathology
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Summary:Social stress contributes to major societal health burdens, such as anxiety disorders and nervousness. Nx4 has been found to modulate stress responses. We investigated whether dampening of such responses is associated with neuronal correlates in brain regions involved in stress and anxiety. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over trial, 39 healthy males took a single dose (three tablets) of either placebo or Nx4, 40 to 60 minutes before an fMRI scan session. We here report on drug effects on amygdala responses during a face-matching task, which was performed during a complex test battery further including resting-state brain connectivity and a social stress experiment. The first of the Primary Outcomes, defined in a hierarchical order, concerned reduced amygdala effects after intake of verum compared to placebo. We found a statistically significant reduction in differential activations in the left amygdala for the contrast negative faces versus forms during verum versus placebo condition. Our results indicate that effects of Nx4 can be monitored in the brain. Previously noted effects on stress responses may thus be modulated by affective brain regions including the amygdala.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-020-60392-w