Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40621712›Full record

ArticlePsychological medicine2025

Brain network dynamics following induced acute stress: a neural marker of psychological vulnerability to real-life chronic stress.

Adva Segal, Marina Charquero-Ballester, Sharon Vaisvasser, Joana Cabral, Ziv Ben-Zion, Diego Vidaurre, Eloise Stark, Hugh McManners, Mark Woolrich, Anke Ehlers and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psychological medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Adva SegalCentre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-6406-7640
Marina Charquero-BallesterCentre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Sharon VaisvasserSchool of Society and the Arts, https://ror.org/02td5wn81Ono Academic College, Kiryat Ono, Israel.
Joana CabralCentre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Ziv Ben-ZionYale School of Medicine, https://ror.org/03v76x132Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Diego VidaurreWellcome Trust Centre for Integrative NeuroImaging, Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity (OHBA), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Eloise StarkCentre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Hugh McMannersScars of War Foundation, The Queen's College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Mark WoolrichWellcome Trust Centre for Integrative NeuroImaging, Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity (OHBA), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Anke EhlersOxford Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Yair Bar-HaimSagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Talma HendlerSagol Brain Institute Tel-Aviv, Wohl Institute for Advanced Imaging, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Morten L KringelbachCentre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundStress leads to neurobiological changes, and failure to regulate these can contribute to chronic psychiatric issues. Despite considerable research, the relationship between neural alterations in acute stress and coping with chronic stress is unclear. This longitudinal study examined whole-brain network dynamics following induced acute stress and their role in predicting chronic stress vulnerability.

methodsSixty military pre-deployment soldiers underwent a lab-induced stress task where subjective stress and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging were acquired repeatedly (before stress, after stress, and at recovery, 90 min later). Baseline depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms were assessed, and again a year later during military deployment. We used the Leading Eigenvector Dynamic Analysis framework to characterize changes in whole-brain dynamics over time. Time spent in each state was compared across acute stress conditions and correlated with psychological outcomes.

resultsFindings reveal significant changes at the network level from acute stress to recovery, where the frontoparietal and subcortical states decreased in dominance in favor of the default mode network, sensorimotor, and visual states. A significant normalization of the frontoparietal state activity was related to successful psychological recovery. Immediately after induced stress, a significant increase in the lifetimes of the frontoparietal state was associated with higher depression symptoms (

conclusionsThis study revealed how acute stress-related neural alterations predict chronic stress vulnerability. Successful recovery from acute stress involves reducing cognitive-emotional states and enhancing self-awareness and sensory-perceptual states. Elevated frontoparietal activity is suggested as a neural marker of vulnerability to chronic stress.

Indexed as

BrainMilitary PersonnelNerve NetStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticStress, PsychologicalAdaptation, PsychologicalAdultChronic DiseaseDepressionFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleYoung Adultacute stressbrain networkschronic stressdepressionfMRIfunctional connectivitylongitudinal studynetwork dynamicsneural markersneuroimagingpsychological vulnerabilitystress resilience

Identifiers

PMID40621712
PMCPMC12270275

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.