Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2016 Aug 2;74(Pt B):297–309. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.04.023

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

Diagram summarizing mechanisms linking behavioral and emotional factors to coronary heart disease in women. Neurobiological pathways affected by stressful exposures and stress-related mental disorders have downstream vascular, immune, metabolic and reproductive effects that, in turn, affect cardiovascular risk pathways. There is also the influence of health behaviors and the cumulative effects of acute stressful exposures resulting in repeated physiological and emotional reactivity. Genetic/epigenetic factors and individual resilience factors modulate these responses. HPA: Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal; SNS: Sympathetic Nervous System; PNS: Parasympathetic Nervous System.