Research reveals that your social rank influences your response to stress

Does a persons social position influence their degree of stress Tulane University researchers investigated this topic and discovered that social rank particularly in females did alter stress responseIn a study published in Current Biology Tulane psychology professor Jonathan Fadok PhD and postdoctoral researcher Lydia SmithOsborne looked at two forms of psychosocial stress social isolation and social instability and how they manifest themselves based on social rankThey conducted their research on adult female mice putting them in pairs and allowing them to form a stable social relationships over several days In each pair one of the mice had a high or dominant social status while the other was considered the subordinate with a relatively low social status After establishing a baseline they monitored changes in behavior stress hormones and neuronal activation in response to chronic social stressWe analyzed how these different forms of stress impact behavior and the stress hormone corticosterone an analogue of the human hormone cortisol in individuals based on their social rank said Fadok an assistant professor in the Tulane Department of Psychology and the Tulane Brain Institute We also looked throughout the brain to identify brain areas that are activated in response to psychosocial stressWe found that not only does rank inform how an individual responds to chronic psychosocial stress but that the type of stress also matters said SmithOsborne a DVMPhD and the first author on the studyShe discovered that mice with lower social status were more susceptible to social instability which is akin to everchanging or inconsistent social groups Those with higher ranks were more susceptible to social isolation or lonelinessThere were also differences in the parts of the brain that became activated by social encounters based upon the social status of the animal responding to it and whether they had experienced psychosocial stressSome areas of a dominant animals brain would react differently to social isolation than to social uncertainty for example SmithOsborne said And this was also true for subordinates Rank gave the animals a unique neurobiological fingerprint for how they responded to chronic stressDo the researchers think the results can translate to people Perhaps Fadok said Overall these findings may have implications for understanding the impact that social status and social networks have on the prevalence of stressrelated mental illnesses such as generalized anxiety disorder and major depression he said However future studies that use more complex social situations are needed before these results can translate to humansAlso Read These three tips may help you optimise stress sleep and immunityThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever