“Stress, Inflammation, and Depression: Recent Discoveries and Future Directions”
28th Annual Meeting of the Society for Research in Psychopathology
Thursday September 18, 2014 – Sunday, September 21, 2014
Evanston, Illinois
Abstract: One of the most recent and potentially important discoveries in depression research involves the realization that components of the immune system that mediate inflammation may be intimately involved in depression. Inflammation is typically thought of as the body’s primary response to physical injury or infection. Here, we discuss how inflammation can be triggered by psychological stress (i.e., in the absence of injury). Specifically, we will address (1) how associations between stress and inflammation differ by ecological and microbial environment (Dr. McDade); (2) how levels of inflammation track with daily variation in negative affect (Dr. Thompson); (3) how social relationships impact symptoms of pain, depression, and fatigue through immune dysregulation (Dr. Jaremka); and (4) how differences in neural sensitivity to social threat predict inflammatory responses to social stress (Dr. Slavich). Inflammatory mediators can initiate depressive symptoms, such as sad mood, anhedonia, fatigue, and social-behavioral withdrawal. They are also implicated in several disease conditions, including asthma, arthritis, chronic pain, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegeneration. Insights from this work may thus address several important questions, including how depression develops, why it is predicted by early life stress, and why it co-occurs with certain diseases. This work may also suggest new opportunities for treating depression by targeting inflammation.
Chair: George M. Slavich, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
Discussant: Deanna M. Barch, Ph.D., Gregory B. Couch Professor, Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis
Speakers
Thomas W. McDade, Ph.D.
Martin J. and Patricia Koldyke Outstanding Teaching Professor
Department of Anthropology
Northwestern University
Website | Email
Recent Papers: PNAS (2012) | BBI (2013)
Talk Title: A Developmental Ecological Approach to Understanding the Links among Psychosocial Stressors, Inflammation, and Disease
Renee J. Thompson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Washington University in St. Louis
Website | Email
Recent Papers: Emotion (2011) | J. Abnormal (2012)
Talk Title: Major Depressive Disorder and Inflammation: The Role of Variability in Negative Affect
Lisa M. Jaremka, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
University of Delaware
Website | Email
Recent Papers: Depression & Anxiety (2013) | Health Psych (2014)
Talk Title: Loneliness and the Pain, Depression, and Fatigue Symptom Cluster: Immune Dysregulation as a Potential Mechanism
George M. Slavich, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
University of California, Los Angeles
Website | Email
Recent Papers: PNAS (2010) | Psych Bull (2014)
Talk Title: Neurocognitive Mechanisms Linking Social Stress, Inflammation, and Depression
Discussant
Deanna M. Barch, Ph.D.
Gregory B. Couch Professor
Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Radiology
Washington University in St. Louis
Website | Email