Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 106, Issue 33, Pages 14075-14079Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0906791106
Keywords
AMPA receptors; corticosterone; NMDA receptors
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health
- National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression ( NARSAD)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The prefrontal cortex (PFC), a key brain region controlling cognition and emotion, is strongly influenced by stress. While chronic stress often produces detrimental effects on these measures, acute stress has been shown to enhance learning and memory, predominantly through the action of corticosteroid stress hormones. We used a combination of electrophysiological, biochemical, and behavioral approaches in an effort to identify the cellular targets of acute stress. We found that behavioral stressors in vivo cause a long-lasting potentiation of NMDAR- and AMPAR-mediated synaptic currents via glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) selectively in PFC pyramidal neurons. This effect is accompanied by increased surface expression of NMDAR and AMPAR subunits in acutely stressed animals. Furthermore, behavioral tests indicate that working memory, a key function relying on recurrent excitation within networks of PFC neurons, is enhanced by acute stress via a GR-dependent mechanism. These results have identified a form of long-term potentiation of synaptic transmission induced by natural stimuli in vivo, providing a potential molecular and cellular mechanism for the beneficial effects of acute stress on cognitive processes sub-served by PFC.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available