In the "ChronoStress" project, the effects of social jet lag (discrepancy between personal chronotype and social time constraints) on stress reactivity are investigated. For this purpose, 2000 individuals were first analyzed with online questionnaires regarding their chronotype, subjective stress perception, depressive mood, and sleep quality. Further, 50 male late types were invited to participate in a social stress paradigm using MRI. It is expected that extreme late types with social jet lag will exhibit increased stress vulnerability as evidenced by BOLD signaling in stress-associated brain areas, increased cortisol release, and altered functional connectivity. The aim of the study is to improve the understanding of factors influencing the individual stress response to support the prevention of stress-associated symptoms and diseases in the long term.
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