Sonia Lupien

Research areas

Biological, Psychological and Social Signatures of Mental Health

Study Center

Centre for Studies on Human Stress (CSHS)

Academic profile

Ph.D. Neuroscience, Université de Montréal
Post-Doctoral Training, University of California
Post-Doctoral Training, Rockefeller University

Affiliation

Scientific Director, Fernand-Seguin Research Centre, Hospital Louis-H Lafontaine, University of Montreal

Director, Centre for Studies on Human Stress

Senior Investigator Chair on Sex, Gender and Mental Health, Canadian Institute of Gender and Health

Associate Professor, Psychiatry Department, Université de Montréal

Research interests

Dr. Lupien’s research interests focus on the effects of stress over the human lifespan. Early in her career, she showed that high levels of stress hormones in older adults are linked to both memory impairment and smaller volume of the hippocampus, a brain structure involved in learning and memory. Two years later, she showed that children from low socioeconomic status present higher levels of stress hormones when compared to children from high socioeconomic status. Importantly, Dr. Lupien’s research has demonstrated that stress may have a negative impact on humans at any age, be it young or old. Her future projects include a research program on the detection and intervention for stress in the workplace, as well as the development of the DeStress for Success Program that aims at educating children and teenagers on stress and its impact on learning and memory.

Recents Publlications

Brenner, K., Liu, A., Laplante, D.P., Lupien, S., Pruessner, J.C., Ciampi, A., Joober, R., King, S. (2009) Cortisol response to a psychosocial stressor in schizophrenia: Blunted, delayed, or normal? Psychoneuroendocrinology, Feb. 3, Epub ahead of Print.

Hebert, S., & Lupien, S. J. (2009). Salivary cortisol levels, subjective stress, and tinnitus intensity in tinnitus sufferers during noise exposure in the laboratory. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 212(1), 37-44. 

Juster, R. P., McEwen, B. S., & Lupien, S. J. (2009). Allostatic load biomarkers of chronic stress and impact on health and cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. Pubmed

Lord, C., Duchesne, A., Pruessner, J. C., & Lupien, S. J. (2009). Measuring indices of lifelong estrogen exposure: self-report reliability. Climacteric, 12(5), 387-394.  Pubmed

Lupien, S. J. (2009). Brains Under Stress. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry-Revue Canadienne De Psychiatrie, 54(1), 4-5.

Lupien, S.J., McEwen, B.S., Gunnar, M.R., Heim, C. (2009). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nature Reviews - Neurosciences, Apr. 29, Epub ahead of print.

Panizzon, M., Dale, A., Eaves, L., Eisen, S., Fennema-Notestine, C., Franz, C., Lupien, S., et al. (2009). Moderating effects of testosterone on the genetic and environmental components of hippocampal volume. Behavior Genetics, 39(6), 674-675.

Pruessner, J., Dedovic, K., Pruessner, M., Lord, C., Buss, C., Collins, L., Dagher, A., Lupien S.J. (2009). Stress regulation in the central nervous system: evidence from structural and functional neuroimaging studies in human populations - 2008 Curt Richter Award Winner. Psychoneuroendocrinology, Apr 10. Epub ahead of print. - Pubmed

Fiocco, A. J., Poirier, J., Joober, R., Nair, N. P. V., & Lupien, S. J. (2008). Acute and long-term associations between ApoE genetic polymorphism, cortisol levels, and declarative memory performance in older adults. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33(5), 625-633.

Lord, C., Buss, C., Lupien, S. J., & Pruessner, J. C. (2008). Hippocampal volumes are larger in postmenopausal women using estrogen therapy compared to past users, never users and men: A possible window of opportunity effect. Neurobiology of Aging, 29(1), 95-101.

Ouellet-Morin, I., Boivin, M., Dionne, G., Lupien, S. J., Arsenault, L., Barr, R. G., et al. (2008). Variations in heritability of cortisol reactivity to stress as a function of early familial adversity among 19-month-old twins. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65(2), 211-218.

Pilgrim, K., Marin, M. F., & Lupien, S. J. (2009). Attentional orienting toward social stress stimuli predicts increased cortisol responsivity to psychosocial stress irrespective of the early socioeconomic status. Psychoneuroendocrinology. Epub ahead of print, oct. 23. - Pubmed

Pruessner, J. C., Dedovic, K., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2008). "Deactivation of the Limbic System during Acute Psychosocial Stress: Evidence from Positron Emission Tomography and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies." Biological Psychiatry 63(2): 234-40.

Therrien, F., Drapeau, V., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2008). "Awakening Cortisol Response in Relation to Psychosocial Profiles and Eating Behaviors." Physiology & Behavior 93(1-2): 282-8.

Weekes, N. Y., Lewis, R. S., Goto, S. G., Garrison-Jakel, J., Patel, F., & Lupien, S. (2008). The effect of an environmental stressor on gender differences on the awakening cortisol response. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33(6), 766-772.

Wrosch, C., Miller, G. E., Lupien, S., & Pruessner, J. C. (2008). Diurnal Cortisol Secretion and 2-Year Changes in Older Adults' Physical Symptoms: The Moderating Roles of Negative Affect and Sleep. Health Psychology, 27(6), 685-693.

Andrews, J., Wadiwalla, M., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2007). "Effects of Manipulating the Amount of Social-Evaluative Threat on the Cortisol Stress Response in Young Healthy Men." Behavioral Neuroscience 121(5): 871-6.

Buss, C., C. Lord, Lupien, S.J., et al. (2007). "Maternal Care Modulates the Relationship between Rrenatal Risk and Hippocampal Volume in Women but not in Men." Journal of Neuroscience 27(10): 2592-5.

Fiocco, A. J., R. Joober, Lupien, S.J., et al. (2007). "Education Modulates Cortisol Reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test in Middle-Aged Adults." Psychoneuroendocrinology 32(8-10): 1158-63.

Hebert, S., Lupien, S.J. (2007). "The Sound of Stress: Blunted Cortisol Reactivity to Psychosocial Stress in Tinnitus Sufferers." Neuroscience Letters 411(2): 138-42.

Lupien, S. J., A. Evans, et al. (2007). "Hippocampal Volume is as Variable in Young as in Older Adults: Implications for the Notion of Hippocampal Atrophy in Humans." Neuroimage 34(2): 479-85.

Lupien, S. J., Maheu, F., et al. (2007). "The Effects of Stress and Stress Hormones on Human Cognition: Implications for the Field of Brain and Cognition." Brain & Cognition 65(3): 209-37.

Pruessner, M., Pruessner, J.C., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2007). "The Associations among Hippocampal Volume, Cortisol Reactivity, and Memory Performance in Healthy Young Men." Psychiatry Research 155(1): 1-10.

Fiocco, A. Wan, J.N., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2006). "Diurnal Cycle of Salivary Cortisol in Older Adult Men and Women with Subjective Complaints of Memory Deficits and/or Depressive Symptoms: Relation to Cognitive Functioning." Stress 9(3): 143-52.

Tu, M. T., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2006). "Diurnal Salivary Cortisol Levels in Postpartum Mothers as a Function of Infant Feeding Choice and Parity." Psychoneuroendocrinology 31(7): 812-24.

Tu, M. T., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2006). "Multiparity Reveals the Blunting Effect of Breastfeeding on Physiological Reactivity to Psychological Stress." Journal of Neuroendocrinology 18(7): 494-503.

Weekes, N., Lewis, R. Lupien, S.J., et al. (2006). "Examination Stress as an Ecological Inducer of Cortisol and Psychological Responses to Stress in Undergraduate Students." Stress 9(4): 199-206.

Dedovic, K., Renwick, R., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2005). "The Montreal Imaging Stress Task: Using Functional Imaging to Investigate the Effects of Perceiving and Processing Psychosocial Stress in the Human Brain." Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience 30(5): 319-25.

Hebert, S., Beland, R., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2005). "Physiological Stress Response to Video-Game Playing: the Contribution of Built-in Music." Life Sciences 76(20): 2371-80.

Lupien, S. J., Fiocco, A., et al. (2005). "Stress Hormones and Human Memory Function across the Lifespan." Psychoneuroendocrinology 30(3): 225-42.

Lupien, S. J., Schwartz, G., et al. (2005). "The Douglas Hospital Longitudinal Study of Normal and Pathological Aging: Summary of Findings." Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience 30(5): 328-34.

Maheu, F. S., Collicutt, P., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2005). "The Perfect Time to be Stressed: A Differential Modulation of Human Memory by Stress Applied in the Morning or in the Afternoon." Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 29(8): 1281-8.

Maheu, F. S., Joober, R., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2005). "Declarative Memory After Stress in Humans: Differential Involvement of the Beta-Adrenergic and Corticosteroid Systems." Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 90(3): 1697-704.

Pruessner, J. C., Baldwin, M.W. Lupien, S.J., et al. (2005). "Self-Esteem, Locus of Control, Hippocampal Volume, and Cortisol Regulation in Young and Old Adulthood." Neuroimage 28(4): 815-26.

Tu, M. T., Lupien, S.J., et al. (2005). "Measuring Stress Responses in Postpartum Mothers: Perspectives from Studies in Human and Animal Populations." Stress 8(1): 19-34.