Table 1.

Diffusion and volumetric data of white matter structures with between group differences at different time points.

MRI metrics	Brain structure	Group (n)	Baseline	p-value	Acute stress	p-value	Chronic stress	p-value	Recovery	p-value
FA	CC	Control (13)	0.50 ± 0.05	ns	0.54 ± 0.04	ns	0.57 ± 0.03	0.04c	0.56 ± 0.03	ns
		Stress (13)	0.50 ± 0.04		0.52 ± 0.03		0.54 ± 0.05		0.55 ± 0.04
	EC	Control (14)	0.41 ± 0.02	ns	0.43 ± 0.02	ns	0.44 ± 0.02	ns	0.45 ± 0.02	0.007
		Stress (13)	0.41 ± 0.02		0.42 ± 0.02		0.43 ± 0.02		0.43 ± 0.01
	AC	Control (14)	0.49 ± 0.03	ns	0.51 ± 0.03	ns	0.55 ± 0.03	ns	0.53 ± 0.03	ns
		Stress (13)	0.48 ± 0.03		0.50 ± 0.03		0.52 ± 0.04		0.53 ± 0.03
MDa	CC	Control (14)	7.55 ± 0.26	ns	7.39 ± 0.21	ns	7.23 ± 0.20	ns	7.18 ± 0.16	0.011
		Stress (13)	7.64 ± 0.20		7.49 ± 0.22		7.33 ± 0.20		7.38 ± 0.22
	EC	Control (14)	7.29 ± 0.11	ns	7.28 ± 0.11	ns	7.10 ± 0.15	ns	7.13 ± 0.09	0.024d
		Stress (13)	7.31 ± 0.14		7.29 ± 0.12		7.19 ± 0.13		7.27 ± 0.19
	AC	Control (14)	7.16 ± 0.21	ns	7.11 ± 0.22	ns	6.97 ± 0.18	ns	7.02 ± 0.30	ns
		Stress (10)	7.03 ± 0.24		7.09 ± 0.17		7.08 ± 0.08		7.19 ± 0.31
ADa	CC	Control (14)	12.18 ± 0.72	ns	12.36 ± 0.72	ns	12.36 ± 0.54	ns	12.38 ± 0.50	ns
		Stress (13)	12.27 ± 0.74		12.37 ± 0.71		12.29 ± 0.56		12.47 ± 0.47
	EC	Control (14)	10.77 ± 0.18	ns	10.95 ± 0.30	ns	10.81 ± 0.34	ns	10.95 ± 0.20	ns
		Stress (13)	10.75 ± 0.30		10.88 ± 0.30		10.81 ± 0.32		10.99 ± 0.28
	AC	Control (13)	11.69 ± 0.37	0.003	11.66 ± 0.43	ns	11.91 ± 0.50	ns	11.90 ± 0.62	ns
		Stress (12)	11.18 ± 0.42		11.63 ± 0.49		12.11 ± 0.61		12.10 ± 0.58
RDa	CC	Control (14)	5.23 ± 0.33	ns	4.91 ± 0.20	ns	4.67 ± 0.33	ns	4.58 ± 0.14	0.019
		Stress (13)	5.32 ± 0.30		5.05 ± 0.23		4.86 ± 0.33		4.84 ± 0.36
	EC	Control (14)	5.55 ± 0.14	ns	5.44 ± 0.10	ns	5.25 ± 0.14	0.027	5.23 ± 0.11	0.001
		Stress (13)	5.58 ± 0.12		5.50 ± 0.10		5.37 ± 0.13		5.42 ± 0.16
	AC	Control (14)	4.94 ± 0.23	ns	4.81 ± 0.25	ns	4.46 ± 0.20	0.004	4.57 ± 0.27	ns
		Stress (13)	4.95 ± 0.26		4.87 ± 0.18		4.79 ± 0.33		4.69 ± 0.30
Volumeb	CC	Control (14)	5.24 ± 0.59	ns	5.25 ± 0.51	ns	5.42 ± 0.54	ns	5.62 ± 0.42	ns
		Stress (12)	5.18 ± 0.57		5.30 ± 0.65		5.79 ± 0.64		5.79 ± 0.69
	EC	Control (14)	50.88 ± 5.12	0.032	53.76 ± 4.55	0.032	55.34 ± 6.67	0.062	55.83 ± 5.30	0.032
		Stress (12)	55.46 ± 5.09		58.41 ± 5.90		59.98 ± 5.19		61.30 ± 6.96
	AC	Control (14)	3.35 ± 0.87	ns	3.07 ± 0.86	ns	3.83 ± 0.95	nsc	3.50 ± 0.84	ns
		Stress (11)	3.16 ± 0.84		3.02 ± 0.56		3.66 ± 0.89		3.03 ± 0.49

A few subjects were excluded from the analysis when assumptions like no significant outliers or normality were not met.

CC, corpus callosum; EC, external capsule; AC, anterior commissure.

^aValues are expressed in units of × 10⁻⁴ mm²/s.

^bValues are expressed in units of mm³ without scaling.

^cWelch-corrected p-values.

^dWithout or with marginally significant between-group difference assessed by mixed design ANOVA.