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Sweating the Small Stuff: Stress Effects in Medial Prefrontal Cortex
Author(s) -
Wellman Cara Lynn
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.300.1
Subject(s) - prefrontal cortex , neuroscience , psychology , self reference effect , chronic stress , cognition , stressor , extinction (optical mineralogy) , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , consumer neuroscience , psychiatry , biology , paleontology
Stress can precipitate or exacerbate many psychological disorders, and can also disrupt cognitive and emotional behavior. Prefrontal cortex has been implicated in a variety of psychological disorders, is involved in many of the cognitive processes that are influenced by chronic stress, and is a target for the hormones involved in the stress response. Despite this, relatively little work has been done to elucidate the effects of stress on prefrontal cortex, and the mechanisms through which stress produces prefrontal dysfunction. We have shown that stress produces profound changes in the morphology of neurons in medial prefrontal cortex, and that these alterations can happen very quickly and even after a mild stressor. We have further demonstrated stress‐induced deficits in a prefrontally‐mediated behavior, retrieval of extinction of conditioned fear, and these deficits are correlated with stress‐induced alterations in neuronal activity in medial prefrontal cortex. Understanding the mechanisms of these stress‐induced changes in prefrontal structure, function, and behavior will provide valuable insights into the etiology of psychological disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and posttraumatic stress disorder.