Effect of corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor1 gene variation on psychosocial stress reaction via the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex in healthy adults

Abstract

Objective: It has been proposed that the common intronic CRHR1 SNP rs110402 is associated with anxiety and cortisol response patterns and plays a key role in vulnerability to certain mental disorders. The current study explored the effect of rs110402 genotype on psychological stress processing in healthy adults.

Methods: The Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST) was administered to 140 healthy adults (34 C carriers and 106 TT homozygotes) during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Between-group differences in self-reported stress level, whole brain activation, and cortisol levels were assessed.

Results: The rs110402 genotype groups differed in stress-induced cortisol response and bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) activity. The TT homozygotes showed greater stress-induced activation in the bilateral dACC compared to C carriers. Interestingly, dACC activity during MIST was negatively correlated with cortisol response in healthy adults. State anxiety, trait anxiety, and mental resilience did not differ between genotypes.

Conclusions: CRHR1 SNP rs110402 genotype plays a role in psychosocial neural processing and cortisol response in healthy adults. The activity in dACC may mediate effect of rs110402 on psychosocial stress processing in the healthy population. Moreover, level of dACC activation may be associated with stress vulnerability.

Keywords: CRHR1; Cortisol response; Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex; Genetics; Psychosocial stress.