The influence of personality on the effect of iTBS after being stressed on cortisol secretion

PLoS One. 2019 Oct 16;14(10):e0223927. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223927. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Over the last years, individualization of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) parameters has been a focus of attention in the field of non-invasive stimulation. It has been proposed that in stress-related disorders personality characteristics may influence the clinical outcome of rTMS. However, the underlying physiological mechanisms as to how personality may affect the rTMS response to stress remains to be clarified. In this sham-controlled crossover study, after being stressed by the Trier Social Stress Test, 38 healthy females received two sessions of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. To take possible personality influences into account, they also completed the Temperament and Character Inventory. Mood and salivary cortisol were assessed throughout the experimental protocol. Overall, two iTBS sessions did not significantly alter mood or influenced cortisol secretion. When taking into account personality features, higher scores on the character dimension Cooperativeness was related to decreased cortisol output, only when active iTBS was administered after the social stressor. In line with other studies, personality features such as the character dimension Cooperativeness may be of particular interest to explain individual neurobiological responses to neurostimulation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Affect
  • Cross-Over Studies
  • Female
  • Healthy Volunteers
  • Humans
  • Hydrocortisone / analysis*
  • Individuality
  • Male
  • Personality / physiology*
  • Prefrontal Cortex / physiology
  • Saliva / chemistry
  • Stress, Psychological / metabolism*
  • Stress, Psychological / physiopathology
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / methods*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Hydrocortisone

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Grant BOF16/GOA/017 for a Concerted Research Action of Ghent University and by an Applied Biomedical (TBM) grant of the agency for Innovation through Science and Technology (IWT), part of the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO), awarded to the PrevenD project (B/14730/01), a grant of het Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) Rode Neuzen G0F4617N, and a grant for research at Ghent University (BOFSTA2017002501, awarded to MAV). MMP is a postdoctoral research fellow, supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO18/PDO/174). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.