Stress and aging: A neurovisceral integration perspective

Abstract

Darwin emphasized the intimate relationship between the brain and the heart over 150 years ago. Healthy aging is associated with significant changes in both the brain and the heart. The changes between these, the two most important organs of the body, are linked via the vagus nerve. In this review, we examine the normative changes with aging and the effect that stress may have on how the brain–heart connection changes with age. We provide a framework based on the concept of neurovisceral integration and propose that stress regulation is emotion regulation. As such, studies that have investigated emotion regulation may yield insights into successful stress regulation that helps protect people from age‐related decline. In addition, interventions that improve brain health also improve heart health and vice versa. We conclude by noting that significant sex and ethnic differences exist but that future studies are needed to more fully explicate how they may moderate the associations between stress and aging.

Age‐related changes in cerebrovascular health and their effects on neural function and cognition: A comprehensive review

“…Interacting systemic effects include sympathetic nervous system activation and increased levels of the circulating vasoconstrictor angiotensin, which are compounded by obesity, psychological stress, and existing vascular damage (Haspula & Clark, 2018; Villapol & Saavedra, 2015). The relationship between the aging brain and sympathetic/parasympathetic tone is further elaborated in this issue by Thayer et al (2021). Because of its strong connection to arterial stiffness and cerebral vascular disease, it is difficult to separate hypertension effects from the effects of other vascular impairments.…”

Social Support and Longevity: Meta-Analysis-Based Evidence and Psychobiological Mechanisms

“…The hypothalamic defense areas are of special interest because they mediate activation of the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (lateral hypothalamus) and the neuroendocrine system (paraventricular nucleus), which play a key role in sustaining activation of the defense system and stress response. In fact, it is chronic activation of the defense system, also called the “default stress response” (Brosschot et al, 2018 ; Thayer et al, 2021 ), which transforms the fight-or-flight response from an adaptive response that allows survival to a maladaptive response that promotes disease and mortality. Three subsystems are involved in this transformation and its potential reversal by social support.…”

“…Prolonged activation of the defense system leads to a cardiovascular and autonomic imbalance in which the sympathetic tone is high and the parasympathetic tone is low, a condition associated with increased morbidity and mortality (Thayer et al, 2010 , 2021 ). Inhibition of the defense system by safety signals is accomplished through structural and functional inhibitory connections between areas of the prefrontal cortex (orbitofrontal cortex and medial prefrontal cortex) and amygdala (Thayer and Lane, 2009 ).…”

Aging and cerebrovascular health: Structural, functional, cognitive, and methodological implications

“…Chronic stress is a well‐known predictor of cognitive decline, and of increased risk for morbidity and mortality (Juster et al, 2010). Thayer et al (2021) provide a theoretical framework based on the neurovisceral integration between the heart and the brain via the vagus nerve. They suggest that stress regulation is emotion regulation, and that appropriate interventions to ameliorate stress can improve the health of both the heart and the brain, given their tight functional coupling.…”