Neural systems under strain: from acute functional responses, to chronic structural alterations

Speaker: Dr. Ala Yankouskaya 

Bournemouth University, UK 

Bibliography of the speaker: 

Dr A. Yankouskaya is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Bournemouth University. Her research lies in social cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging and is concerned with how perception, attention, and decision making emerge from interactions between cognitive, affective, and bodily processes in the brain. Across her work, she examines how social context, uncertainty, and internal states shape information integration within large-scale neural systems, with implications for behaviour and mental health.  

A. Yankouskaya’s research spans multimodal experimental approaches and analyses, including eye-tracking, fMRI, EEG, multivariate pattern analysis, and computational modelling to characterise stable and context-dependent patterns of brain organisation, their reliability, and their role in guiding adaptive behaviour. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding how variations in brain network dynamics relate to changes in mood, cognitive functioning, and vulnerability to affective disturbance.   

A. Yankouskaya has developed this research through collaborations and appointments at the University of Oxford (Centre for Cognitive Neuropsychology, Department of Experimental Psychology), the University of Birmingham (School of Psychology), Liverpool Hope University (Department of Psychology) and Bournemouth University (School of Psychology).  

Description of the general focus of the symposium: 

This symposium aims to bring together complementary lines of research that examine how the human brain responds to strain, whether triggered acutely by physiological conditions and cognitive demands, or chronically by affective disorders. Evidence will be provided on how neural systems adjust under such pressures, revealing functional dynamics and structural changes that support, or compromise, adaptive functioning and mental health. One example of acute physiological strain comes from research on cold-water immersion (CWI). Although CWI is increasingly recognised for improving mood and decreasing depressive symptoms, less is known about the underlying processes that accompany these behavioural effects. Drawing on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, recent findings show that brief CWI prompts specific adjustments in large-scale network organisation. This offers new insight into how the brain responds to immediate physiological challenge and how these adaptations facilitate mood improvements. Cognitive strain offers another example of how the brain responds to immediate challenge. Tasks involving conflict or unpredictability require individuals to resolve competing demands, thereby placing pressure on control systems, with the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) serving as a hub region for regulating control and monitoring uncertainty. Yet, ACC’s precise functional role remains debated. By systematically varying predictability and conflict, the conditions under which ACC activity adjusts to acute cognitive strain can be precisely examined. Extending beyond acute forms of strain, the symposium also considers how longer-lasting affective challenges influence brain structure. Structural MRI research on late-life depression examines subregion-specific vulnerability within the hippocampus, a structure that normally supports memory and learning. Comparisons between individuals with active versus remitted symptoms can further evaluate whether ongoing symptom persistence relates to differences in hippocampal integrity. Clarifying how the hippocampus is changing in response to long-term affective strain is important to advance our understanding of later-life vulnerability. Collectively, the research will demonstrate how physiological, cognitive, and affective strain influence network functional organisation, regional activity, and structural integrity. These perspectives will provide insight into the mechanisms that support adaptation, or reveal vulnerability, under diverse challenges. The symposium also offers a different angle for understanding mental health. By examining how the brain adjusts during physical challenge, demanding cognitive tasks, and persistent low mood, mental health is placed within the same scientific questions that guide work on neural function more broadly. This approach invites consideration of how different influences across life may relate to mental health and how this knowledge might inform future ways of supporting it. 

Brief description of the talk: 

Acute physiological strain offers a uniquely tractable model for understanding how the human brain reorganises under pressure. In this talk, I will present converging evidence from neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and large-scale behavioural data examining how brief cold-water immersion (CWI) influences affective state and neural function. First, resting-state fMRI that even a 5-minute immersion triggers rapid reconfiguration of large-scale networks supporting self-referential processing, salience detection, and attentional control, with changes in connectivity closely paralleling shifts in positive and negative affect. New EEG findings extend this picture, showing immediate reductions in frontal alpha power and increased theta–beta coupling following CWI, biomarkers consistent with elevated vigilance, cognitive readiness, and improved mood regulation. Complementing the laboratory work, a large patient survey (N=700) reveals that individuals who regularly engage in cold-water practices report lower depressive symptoms, greater perceived stress resilience, and stronger beliefs in their ability to regulate mood, highlighting the broader psychosocial relevance of these physiological effects. Together, these data suggest that acute cold exposure engages a multi-level adaptive response, spanning brain networks, electrophysiological dynamics, and subjective mood, that may help explain its emerging therapeutic potential.