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Vulnerable and resilient cognitive performance related to early life stress: The potential mediating role of dopaminergic receptors in the medial prefrontal cortex of adult mice
Author(s) -
Tractenberg Saulo G.,
Orso Rodrigo,
Creutzberg Kerstin C.,
Malcon Luiza M. C.,
Lumertz Francisco S.,
WearickSilva Luis Eduardo,
Viola Thiago W.,
Riva Marco A.,
GrassiOliveira Rodrigo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1002/jdn.10004
Subject(s) - prefrontal cortex , neuroscience , dopaminergic , psychology , cognition , dopamine
Rationale Exposure to early life stress (ELS) is known to have pronounced effects on the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, not all individuals exposed to ELS manifest the same neurobiological and cognitive phenotypes when adults. Dopamine signaling could be a key factor in understanding the effects of stress on PFC‐related cognitive function. Objectives We aimed to investigate the differential effects of ELS on cognitive performance of adult mice and the dopaminergic receptors expression in the PFC. Methods BALB/c males were exposed to the maternal separation (MS) procedure and their cognitive performance on the eight‐arm radial maze (8‐RAM) were assessed during adulthood. For molecular‐level assessments, we performed mRNA expression analyses for dopamine receptors— DRD1 , DRD2 , DRD3— and Hers1 expression in the medial PFC. Results While MS produced an overall impairment on 8‐RAM, the stressed animals could be divided in two groups based on their performance: those with impaired cognitive performance (vulnerable to maternal separation, V‐MS) and those without any impairment (resilient to maternal separation, R‐MS). V‐MS animals showed increased DRD1 and DRD2 expression in comparison with other groups. Errors on 8‐RAM were also positively correlated with DRD1 and DRD2 mRNA expression. Conclusions Our findings suggest a potential role of the dopaminergic system in the programming mechanisms of cognitive vulnerability and resilience related to ELS.