Body Brain Waves'25 - Talk by Maaike van Den Houte

Body Brain Waves'25 - Talk by Maaike van Den Houte

by Maaike van Den Houte

Life & Natural Systems Psychology JMPsychologyJMMPhysiological psychology, neuropsychology, biopsychology
🎙 Maaike van Den Houte 👥 23 📅 December 11, 2025 ⏱ 33 min 👁 9 📄 original study 🧭 2026-08-18
Available in: English (current) Français

Keywords

IBScortisolstressbrain imagingcomorbidity

Summary

Maaike van Den Houte presents findings from the DISCOVER project on the neuro-endocrine stress response in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The study compared IBS patients and healthy controls on self-reported stress, cortisol responses, and neural responses to acute stress, using the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST) and the Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST). Results show that IBS patients report higher baseline stress, but no differential reactivity to the task. Cortisol responses were exaggerated in patients with higher comorbidity burden. Neuroimaging revealed altered brain responses to stress in IBS patients compared to controls, particularly in regions such as the caudate and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and IBS patients failed to activate pain-inhibitory regions during stress. However, no differences were found between comorbid and non-comorbid patients in brain responses. Machine learning could classify IBS vs. controls based on neural stress responses, but not comorbidity status. The talk includes a discussion on the importance of continuous measures of comorbidity and gastrointestinal-specific anxiety.

158 words

Critical Evaluation

Value of the Information & Strength of the Argument

The presentation provides valuable preliminary data from a large-scale European study, addressing a gap in IBS research by examining neural responses to stress without concurrent pain stimuli. The use of validated stress tasks and multiple outcome measures (self-report, cortisol, fMRI) strengthens the evidence. The argumentation is clear and logical, with appropriate caveats about preliminary results and missing data. The discussion highlights the importance of considering comorbidity as a continuum and the potential role of gastrointestinal-specific anxiety.

Scientific Rigor, Source Quality, Title Accuracy

The talk is scientifically rigorous, with detailed methodology and appropriate statistical approaches (PCA, SVM). However, as a conference presentation, it lacks peer review and detailed references. The title accurately reflects the content. No external sources are cited in the description, but the project is part of the DISCOVER consortium. The adequacy between title and content is high.

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Title / Content Match

The title accurately reflects the content, which is a talk on the neuro-endocrine stress response in IBS.

Quality & Reliability

8/10

Presentation of preliminary results from a large European project (DISCOVER) with rigorous methodology (validated stress tasks, PCA for comorbidity severity, SVM classification). However, results are preliminary and not yet peer-reviewed, and some comparisons lack data (e.g., cortisol in healthy controls).

Key Moments

Markers derived by PSI from the transcript: the creator did not define chapters.

Contribution & Novelties

This talk presents novel findings on the neural responses to acute stress in IBS, which have not been previously studied without concurrent pain stimuli. The use of machine learning to classify IBS based on brain responses is innovative. The study also emphasizes the importance of considering comorbidity as a continuous variable.

Pour aller plus loin :

98 words

Radar Profile

The radar profile shows high scores in information quantity, quality, and technical level, with a slightly lower reliability score due to preliminary nature. This indicates a technically strong presentation with solid methodology, but the results are not yet peer-reviewed.

Reliability 7/10