Biol Psychiatry. 2023 Dec 11:S0006-3223(23)01759-6. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.11.027. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Hippocampal volume (HV) is sensitive to environmental influences. Under normative conditions in humans, HV increases linearly into childhood and asymptotes in early adulthood. Studies of humans and non-human animals have demonstrated evidence for inverse relations between several measures of stress and HV.

METHODS: Using structural equation modeling, this study aimed to characterize relations of age, basal cortisol, biological sex, and lifetime perceived stress with bilateral HV in an adolescent sample of healthy individuals and those at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P) (N = 571, 43% female; age range = 12-19.9). This study sample included 469 individuals at CHR-P and 102 healthy comparisons from the combined baseline cohorts of the second and third North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study.

RESULTS: A structural model that constrained the individual effects of basal cortisol and perceived stress to single path coefficients, and freely estimated the effects of age and biological sex in group models, optimized model fit and parsimony relative to other candidate models. Significant inverse relations between basal cortisol and bilateral HV were observed in those at CHR-P and healthy comparisons. Significant sex differences in bilateral HV were also observed with females demonstrating smaller HV than males in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Multigroup structural equation modeling revealed heterogeneity in relations of age and biological sex with basal cortisol, lifetime perceived stress, and bilateral HV in individuals at CHR-P and healthy comparisons. Moreover, findings support prior literature indicating that elevated basal cortisol is a nonspecific risk factor for reduced HV.

PMID:38092185 | DOI:10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.11.027