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Urban upbringing has been found to increase the risk for schizophrenia, and current urban residence increases risks for mood and anxiety disorders. However, the neurophysiology of these findings has not been previously understood. These researchers examined the relationship between urban living and responses to laboratory stress paradigms, as shown on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), in 32 adults (mean age, 43) and in a replication sample of 23 adults (mean age, 28).
Upbringing and current living were categorized as urban or rural (i.e., in communities that were >100,000 or <10,000, respectively). Two independent stress trials consisted of mathematical tasks of limited difficulty combined with negative feedback; baseline and pos…