Title : Bullying at Workplace and Brain-Imaging Correlates

Abstract:

The relationship between psychosocial stress at work and mental health outcome is well-known. Brain-imaging studies hypothesize morphological brain modifications connected to work-related stress.To our knowledge this is the first study describing the link between work c haracteristics and brain imaging in a sample of work-related psychiatric patients assessed according to standardized clinical and diagnostic criteria. The aims of the study are: (1) to evaluate hippocampal and whole brain volumes in work-related psychiatric disturbances; (2) to verify the relationship between brain changes and the anxious and/or depressive symptoms; (3) to observe the relationship between the brain changes and the degree of the bullying at workplace. The hippocampus and whole brain volumes of 23 patients with work-related adjustment- disorders were compared with 15 controls by means of MRI. MR images highlight a smaller hippocampal volume in patients compared with controls. Significant reduction in the patients’gray matter was found in three brain areas: right inferior temporal gyrus, left cuneus, left inferior occipital gyrus. The reduction of the hippocampi volumes was related to work distress and , above all, to bullying at workplace. The results confirm that the morphological brain abnormalities could be involved in work-related psychiatric disturbances

Audience Take Away:

• A greater understanding of the work related stress disorder and of its possible physiopathological mechanisms.
• Work related-stress and bullying at workplace could be considered as a relevant life-event stressors and could be associated to poor mental health outcomes in a wide group of workers. The new world wide economic model of work, the ever increasing relevant role of job insecurity and injustice at workplace could be, currently, a significant variable about “global health”. We sustain with this study the need of achieving a wider knowledge of the pathogenetic mechanisms linked with these increasingly common disturbances of the contemporary societies.

Biography:

Diagnostic and interventional neuroradiology: execution and reporting of CT and MRI examinations without and with contrast medium of the cranial encephalic and vertebro medullary district; first operator in minimally invasive spine treatment O2-O3 chemiodiscolysis and pulsed radiofrquency treatment ; second operator for diagnostic and therapeutic invasive activities (diagnostic and therapeutic cerebral panangiography, spine vertebral  kyphoplasty and  vertebroplasty). 
PhD student at University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli (80131 Naples Italy): transversal and longitudinal experimental clinical studies through the use of advanced neuroradiological techniques and methods (functional MRI of neuronal activation, diffusion tensor, spectroscopy and cerebral perfusion) with a superconductive MRI 3 Tesla scanner). 
Author and coauthor of 18 scientific publications on national and international journals; 26 oral communications at national and international conferences¸ 38 scientific posters and e-posters at national and international congresses.