Cited by 224Stress Responses and CortisolNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Chronic stress increases prefrontal inhibition: a mechanism for stress-induced prefrontal dysfunction

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McKlveen, Jessica M., Morano, Rachel L., Fitzgerald, Maureen, Zoubovsky, Sandra, Cassella, Sarah N., Scheimann, Jessie R., Ghosal, Sriparna, Mahbod, Parinaz +4 more·2016·Biological Psychiatry

Abstract

Background Multiple neuropsychiatric disorders, e.g., depression, are linked to imbalances in excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission and prefrontal cortical dysfunction, and are concomitant with chronic stress.Methods We used electrophysiologic (n = 5-6 animals, 21-25 cells/group), neuroanatomic (n = 6-8/group), and behavioral (n = 12/group) techniques to test the hypothesis that chronic stress increases inhibition of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) glutamatergic output neurons.Results Using patch clamp recordings from infralimbic mPFC pyramidal neurons, we found that chronic stress selectively increases the frequency of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents with no effect on amplitude, which suggests that chronic stress increases presynaptic gamma-aminobutyric acid release. Elevated gamma-aminobutyric acid release under chronic stress is accompanied by increased inhibitory appositions and terminals onto glutamatergic cells, as assessed by both immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Furthermore, chronic stress decreases glucocorticoid receptor immunoreactivity specifically in a subset of inhibitory neurons, which suggests that increased inhibitory tone in the mPFC after chronic stress may be caused by loss of a glucocorticoid receptor-mediated brake on interneuron activity. These neuroanatomic and functional changes are associated with impairment of a prefrontal-mediated behavior. During chronic stress, rats initially make significantly more errors in the delayed spatial win-shift task, an mPFC-mediated behavior, which suggests a diminished impact of the mPFC on decision making.Conclusions Taken together, the data suggest that chronic stress increases synaptic inhibition onto prefrontal glutamatergic output neurons, limiting the influence of the prefrontal cortex in control of stress reactivity and behavior. Thus, these data provide a mechanistic link among chronic stress, prefrontal cortical hypofunction, and behavioral dysfunction.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.03.2101

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  • The infralimbic cortex is involved in coping with chronic stress, eventually leading to structural changes and prefrontal dysfunction.

    “The most ventral subdomain of the mPFC is the infralimbic cortex (IL) and is involved in coping with chronic stress eventually leading to structural changes and prefrontal dysfunction [5–11].”

    From Development of prefrontal cortex (2022) · cites this paper as [11]

  • Chronic stress is thought to have diffuse neurological consequences.

    “The neurological sequelae of chronic stress is considered diffuse (33)”

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Authors
McKlveen, J. M., Morano, R. L., Fitzgerald, M., Zoubovsky, S., Cassella, S. N., Scheimann, J. R., Ghosal, S., Mahbod, P., Packard, B. A., Myers, B., Baccei, M. L., & Herman, J. P.
Affiliations
University of Cincinnati (US)
Corresponding author
Herman, James P.
Venue
Biological Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-11
Volume
80
Issue
10
Pages
754-764
ISSN
0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2323003929
Cited by
224
References
95
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 8
FWCI
14.23
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (MH097430, MH069860, MH049698, HL122454)
  • American Heart Association (17070152)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
chronic stress, medial prefrontal cortex, infralimbic cortex, GABAergic inhibition, presynaptic GABA release, inhibitory postsynaptic currents, glucocorticoid receptor, interneurons, decision-making, stress reactivity, depression, excitation-inhibition balance
MeSH terms
Animals, Behavior, Animal, Chronic Disease, Disease Models, Animal, gamma-Aminobutyric Acid, Male, Neural Inhibition, Receptors, Glucocorticoid, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Prefrontal Cortex, Pyramidal Cells, Patch-Clamp Techniques, Glutamic Acid, Rats, Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potentials

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