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    Effects of Stressor Controllability on Corticostriatal Activity
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    3 Introduction 4 Methods 8 Results 13 Discussion 16 Acknowledgements.......19 References 20 Figure/Table Legend......25 Figures/Tables 28
    Keywords:
    Stressor
    The degree of control that an organism has over a stressor potently modulates the impact of the stressor, with uncontrollable stressors producing a constellation of outcomes that do not occur if the stressor is behaviorally controllable. It has generally been assumed that this occurs because uncontrollability actively potentiates the effects of stressors. Here it will be suggested that in addition, or instead, the presence of control actively inhibits the impact of stressors. At least in part, this occurs because (i) the presence of control is detected by regions of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFCv); and (ii) detection of control activates mPFCv output to stress-responsive brain stem and limbic structures that actively inhibit stress-induced activation of these structures. Furthermore, an initial experience with control over stress alters the mPFCv response to subsequent stressors so that mPFCv output is activated even if the subsequent stressor is uncontrollable, thereby making the organism resilient. The general implications of these results for understanding resilience in the face of adversity are discussed.
    Stressor
    TRACE (psycholinguistics)
    Self-reference effect
    Ventromedial prefrontal cortex
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    Abstract When faced with an inescapable stressor, animals may engage in ‘coping’ behaviors, such as chewing inedible objects, that attenuate some physiological responses to the stressor. Previous evidence indicates that dopamine neurotransmission in the right prefrontal cortex is modulated by coping processes. Here we tested whether medial prefrontal cortical (mPFC) neuronal activation, as measured by Fos‐immunoreactivity (Fos‐ir), was altered in rats chewing inedible objects during exposure to novelty stress. We found that chewing caused an increase in Fos‐ir that was selective for the right hemisphere of the mPFC along with a decrease in Fos‐ir that was selective for the right central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), a region that may regulate dopamine neurotransmission in mPFC. These observations suggest that coping during stress engages mPFC and CeA neuronal activity asymmetrically. Synapse 63:82–85, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
    Stressor
    Premovement neuronal activity
    Citations (38)
    Coping is defined as the behavioral and physiological effort made to master stressful situations. The ability to cope with stress leads either to healthy or to pathogenic outcomes. The medial prefrontal cortex (mpFC) and amygdala are acknowledged as having a major role in stress-related behaviors, and mpFC has a critical role in the regulation of amygdala-mediated arousal in response to emotionally salient stimuli. Prefrontal cortical serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)) is involved in corticolimbic circuitry, and GABA has a major role in amygdala functioning. Here, using mice, it was assessed whether amygdalar GABA regulation by prefrontal 5-HT is involved in processing stressful experiences and in determining coping outcomes. First (experiment 1), bilateral selective 5-HT depletion in mpFC of mice reduced GABA release induced by stress in basolateral amygdala (BLA) and passive coping in the Forced Swimming Test (FST) (experiment 2). Moreover, prefrontal-amygdala disconnection procedure that combined a selective unilateral 5-HT depletion of mpFC and infusion of an inhibitor of GABA synthesis into the contralateral BLA, thereby to disrupt prefrontal-amygdalar serial connectivity bilaterally, showed that disconnection selectively decreases immobility in the FST. These results point to prefrontal/amygdala connectivity mediated by 5-HT and GABA transmission as a critical neural mechanism in stress-induced behavior.
    Basolateral amygdala
    Disconnection
    Citations (63)