scholarly journals We Are What We Think: Downregulating the Chronic Stress Response with Technology-Assisted Mindfulness Meditation

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-18
Author(s):  
Krista Anderson-Ross
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Mindfulness Meditation ◽  
Prolonged Exposure ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Chronic Stressors

For hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution, high alertness was the key to survival in a predatory and dangerous world. Those whose stress responses remained active survived to pass along their genes, thus setting up modern humans with a mechanism primed to respond to threats to survival. This mechanism in the modern world can become maladaptive when prolonged exposure to chronic stressors keeps it on high alert, even in the absence of any threats. This article explores the potential of technology-assisted mindfulness meditation to support a healthy stress response within the demanding context of modern lifestyles.

scholarly journals Physiological Stress in Rescued Wild Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) Being Held in a Rehabilitation Sanctuary: A Pilot Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renae Charalambous ◽  
Troy Simonato ◽  
Matthew Peel ◽  
Edward Narayan
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Stress System ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
Acute And Chronic Stress

Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) are one of Australia's most charismatic native small marsupial species. Unfortunately, populations of koalas are rapidly declining throughout Australia and they continue to face increasing pressure from a changing ecosystem. Negative stimulants in the environment can elicit stress responses through activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Depending on the duration of the negative stimulant, the stress response can lead to either acute or chronic side effects, and is shown through the activation of the neuroendocrine stress system and the release of glucocorticoids (e.g., cortisol). Wild koalas entering clinical care face novel stressors that can be out of a wildlife carer's control. In this pilot study, we monitored physiological stress in three wild koalas at a wildlife rehabilitation centre in New South Wales, Australia. Acute and chronic stress was indexed non-invasively, with faecal samples taken to evaluate acute stress, and fur samples taken to evaluate chronic stress. Sampling occurred sporadically over four months, from the start of September 2018 to the end of December 2018. Results attempt to understand the stress response of koalas to negative stimulants in the environment by comparing faecal glucocorticoids on days where a known stressor was recorded with days where no known stressor was recorded. Furthermore, variations in faecal and fur glucocorticoids were compared between the three koalas in this study. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of stress tracking of wild rescued koalas in a sanctuary. We suggest that further monitoring of baseline, acute and chronic stress will be needed to better understand how koalas respond to negative stimulants associated with clinical care.

Integrative Nursing Management of Stress

2014 ◽  
pp. 200-204
Author(s):  
Ruth Lindquist ◽  
Dawn R. Witt ◽  
Lynette Crane
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Nursing Management ◽  
Individual Family ◽  
The Individual

Stress is ubiquitous in the modern world. Recognition and understanding of the complex system-specific aspects of the “stress response,” as well as the manifestations of stress and adaptation in the integrated whole are essential to for integrative nursing management of symptoms of stress. A wide-variety of interventions can be selected and implemented by the nurse in collaboration with the individual, family or community to address acute or chronic stress; single or multi-faceted approaches to intervention are applied from options from “tiers” of increasing intensity/invasiveness, while being mindful of principles of integrative nursing, to achieve desired mutually planned and desired outcomes.

The evolved developmental niche and children’s developing morality

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela M. Kurth ◽  
Darcia Narvaez
Keyword(s):  
Young Child ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Human History ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Supportive Environment ◽  
Developmental Niche ◽  
Small Band ◽  
Prosocial Behaviours

Like every animal, human offspring evolved to fit into their communities, but social fittedness for mammals requires a supportive early nest that fosters socio-emotional intelligence, self-regulation, and sympathy. Within a supportive environment, children naturally develop orientations that facilitate prosocial behaviours within the community. We use the evolved developmental niche (EDN), apparent in 95% of human history as small-band hunter-gatherers, for a baseline representative of human evolution. In these societies, children grow into cooperative, agile moral actors. We compare the EDN with five modern approaches to young child group care and make suggestions to early caregivers on how to provide, in the modern world, what children evolved to need.

scholarly journals Flavonoids: Potential Candidates for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders

Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
Shweta Devi ◽  
Vijay Kumar ◽  
Sandeep Kumar Singh ◽  
Ashish Kant Dubey ◽  
Jong-Joo Kim
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorders ◽  
Cell Damage ◽  
Cellular Stress ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Cellular Stress Response ◽  
Dramatic Rise ◽  
Cellular Stress Responses

Neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Huntington’s disease (HD), are the most concerning disorders due to the lack of effective therapy and dramatic rise in affected cases. Although these disorders have diverse clinical manifestations, they all share a common cellular stress response. These cellular stress responses including neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, proteotoxicity, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-stress, which combats with stress conditions. Environmental stress/toxicity weakened the cellular stress response which results in cell damage. Small molecules, such as flavonoids, could reduce cellular stress and have gained much attention in recent years. Evidence has shown the potential use of flavonoids in several ways, such as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic, yet their mechanism is still elusive. This review provides an insight into the potential role of flavonoids against cellular stress response that prevent the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders.

scholarly journals Environmental Conditions Modulate the Transcriptomic Response of Both Caulobacter crescentus Morphotypes to Cu Stress

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1116
Author(s):  
Laurens Maertens ◽  
Pauline Cherry ◽  
Françoise Tilquin ◽  
Rob Van Houdt ◽  
Jean-Yves Matroule
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Caulobacter Crescentus ◽  
Oxidative Stress Response ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Transcriptomic Response ◽  
Swarmer Cell ◽  
Cu Stress ◽  
Cellular Environment

Bacteria encounter elevated copper (Cu) concentrations in multiple environments, varying from mining wastes to antimicrobial applications of copper. As the role of the environment in the bacterial response to Cu ion exposure remains elusive, we used a tagRNA-seq approach to elucidate the disparate responses of two morphotypes of Caulobacter crescentus NA1000 to moderate Cu stress in a complex rich (PYE) medium and a defined poor (M2G) medium. The transcriptome was more responsive in M2G, where we observed an extensive oxidative stress response and reconfiguration of the proteome, as well as the induction of metal resistance clusters. In PYE, little evidence was found for an oxidative stress response, but several transport systems were differentially expressed, and an increased need for histidine was apparent. These results show that the Cu stress response is strongly dependent on the cellular environment. In addition, induction of the extracytoplasmic function sigma factor SigF and its regulon was shared by the Cu stress responses in both media, and its central role was confirmed by the phenotypic screening of a sigF::Tn5 mutant. In both media, stalked cells were more responsive to Cu stress than swarmer cells, and a stronger basal expression of several cell protection systems was noted, indicating that the swarmer cell is inherently more Cu resistant. Our approach also allowed for detecting several new transcription start sites, putatively indicating small regulatory RNAs, and additional levels of Cu-responsive regulation.

Clade III cytokinin response factors share common roles in response to oxidative stress responses linked to cytokinin synthesis

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 3294-3306
Author(s):  
Ariel M Hughes ◽  
H Tucker Hallmark ◽  
Lenka Plačková ◽  
Ondrej Novák ◽  
Aaron M Rashotte
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Oxidative Stress Response ◽  
Response Factors ◽  
Ontology Term ◽  
Regulated Expression ◽  
Cytokinin Response ◽  
Oxidative Stress Responses

Abstract Cytokinin response factors (CRFs) are transcription factors that are involved in cytokinin (CK) response, as well as being linked to abiotic stress tolerance. In particular, oxidative stress responses are activated by Clade III CRF members, such as AtCRF6. Here we explored the relationships between Clade III CRFs and oxidative stress. Transcriptomic responses to oxidative stress were determined in two Clade III transcription factors, Arabidopsis AtCRF5 and tomato SlCRF5. AtCRF5 was required for regulated expression of >240 genes that are involved in oxidative stress response. Similarly, SlCRF5 was involved in the regulated expression of nearly 420 oxidative stress response genes. Similarities in gene regulation by these Clade III members in response to oxidative stress were observed between Arabidopsis and tomato, as indicated by Gene Ontology term enrichment. CK levels were also changed in response to oxidative stress in both species. These changes were regulated by Clade III CRFs. Taken together, these findings suggest that Clade III CRFs play a role in oxidative stress response as well as having roles in CK signaling.

scholarly journals Stress Responses in Down Syndrome Neurodegeneration: State of the Art and Therapeutic Molecules

Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 266
Author(s):  
Chiara Lanzillotta ◽  
Fabio Di Domenico
Keyword(s):  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Redox Balance ◽  
Antioxidant Response ◽  
Chromosome 21 ◽  
Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Genomic Disorder ◽  
Therapeutic Molecules ◽  
Early Alzheimer’S Disease

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genomic disorder characterized by the increased incidence of developing early Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In DS, the triplication of genes on chromosome 21 is intimately associated with the increase of AD pathological hallmarks and with the development of brain redox imbalance and aberrant proteostasis. Increasing evidence has recently shown that oxidative stress (OS), associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and with the failure of antioxidant responses (e.g., SOD1 and Nrf2), is an early signature of DS, promoting protein oxidation and the formation of toxic protein aggregates. In turn, systems involved in the surveillance of protein synthesis/folding/degradation mechanisms, such as the integrated stress response (ISR), the unfolded stress response (UPR), and autophagy, are impaired in DS, thus exacerbating brain damage. A number of pre-clinical and clinical studies have been applied to the context of DS with the aim of rescuing redox balance and proteostasis by boosting the antioxidant response and/or inducing the mechanisms of protein re-folding and clearance, and at final of reducing cognitive decline. So far, such therapeutic approaches demonstrated their efficacy in reverting several aspects of DS phenotype in murine models, however, additional studies aimed to translate these approaches in clinical practice are still needed.

Role of hypothalamic inputs in maintaining pituitary-adrenal responsiveness in repeated restraint

2003 ◽  
Vol 285 (5) ◽  
pp. E1110-E1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Zelena ◽  
Z. Mergl ◽  
A. Földes ◽  
K. J. Kovács ◽  
Z. Tóth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Stress ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Mrna Level ◽  
Hormonal Changes ◽  
Mediobasal Hypothalamus ◽  
Hormonal Responses ◽  
Pomc Mrna ◽  
Paraventricular Nucleus Of Hypothalamus ◽  
Pituitary Adrenal Axis

The role of hypothalamic structures in the regulation of chronic stress responses was studied by lesioning the mediobasal hypothalamus or the paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamus (PVH). Rats were acutely (60 min) and/or repeatedly (for 7 days) restrained. In controls, a single restraint elevated the plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), corticosterone, and prolactin levels. Repeated restraint produced all signs of chronic stress, including decreased body and thymus weights, increased adrenal weight, basal corticosterone levels, and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) mRNA expression in the anterior pituitary. Some adaptation to repeated restraint of the ACTH response, but not of other hormonal responses, was seen. Lesioning of the mediobasal hypothalamus abolished the hormonal response and POMC mRNA activation to acute and/or repeated restraint, suggesting that the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis activation during repeated restraint is centrally driven. PVH lesion inhibited the ACTH and corticosterone rise to the first restraint by ∼50%. In repeatedly restrained rats with PVH lesion, the ACTH response to the last restraint was reduced almost to basal control levels, and the elevation of POMC mRNA level was prevented. PVH seems to be important for the repeated restraint-induced ACTH and POMC mRNA stimulation, but it appears to partially mediate other restraint-induced hormonal changes.

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