Journal
NEUROREPORT
Volume 20, Issue 17, Pages 1554-1558Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0b013e328332bb09
Keywords
brain imaging; hippocampus; hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; posttraumatic stress disorder; prefrontal cortex; stress
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Funding
- UWM Research Growth Initiative program
- NIH [R01MH060668, R01MH64457]
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The notion of uncontrollable stress causing reduced hippocampal size remains controversial in the posttraumatic stress disorder literature, because human studies cannot discern the causality of effect. Here, we addressed this issue by using structural magnetic resonance imaging in rats to measure the hippocampus and other brain regions before and after stress. Chronic restraint stress produced approximately 3% reduction in hippocampal volume, which was not observed in control rats. This decrease was not signficantly correlated with baseline hippocampal volume or body weight. Total forebrain volume and the sizes of the other brain regions and adrenal glands were all unaffected by stress. This longitudinal, within-subjects design study provides direct evidence that the hippocampus is differentially vulnerable and sensitive to chronic stress. NeuroReport 20:1554-1558 (C) 2009 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
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