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Stress, corticotropin‐releasing factor and cognitive flexibility
Author(s) -
Chaijale Nayla,
Snyder Kevin,
Wang WeiWen,
Bhatnagar Seema,
Valentino Rita
Publication year - 2011
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.25.1_supplement.1006.6
Subject(s) - cognitive flexibility , locus coeruleus , norepinephrine , social defeat , cognition , psychology , monoamine neurotransmitter , flexibility (engineering) , medicine , neuroscience , endocrinology , population , dopamine , serotonin , nucleus , statistics , receptor , mathematics , environmental health
Although it is well recognized that stress impacts on cognitive performance, the circuitry and mechanisms underlying this remain unknown. Because the stress‐related neuropeptide, corticotropin‐releasing factor (CRF) serves as a neurotransmitter in monoamine nuclei that regulate cognitive function, this study examined the effects of CRF and social stress on cognitive flexibility in rats using an attentional set shifting task. CRF impaired intradimensional shifting (F 3,37 =8.1, p<0.0005), reversal learning (F 3,36 =5.0, p<0.01) and extradimensional shifting (F 3,31 =12, p<0.0001) when administered i.c.v. (0.03–3.0 μg). In contrast, when administered directly into the norepinephrine nucleus, locus coeruleus (LC), CRF improved EDS (F 3,22 =6.7, p<0.005) suggesting that acute stress may improve cognitive flexibility by activating the LC‐NE system. To examine the effects of stress on cognitive flexibility, rats were exposed to resident‐intruder stress (5 days). Rats that resisted defeat performed similarly to controls in all aspects of the task. In contrast, rats that readily assumed a defeat posture (<300 s) showed improvements in intra and extra‐dimensional shifting, similar to the effects of intra‐LC CRF. Together, the data suggest that stress may improve cognitive flexibility in a population of reactive rats via CRF actions on the LC‐norepinephrine system. Supported by DARPA 58077LSDRP