Cited by 556Memory and Neural MechanismsStress Responses and CortisolNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

The Influence of Stress Hormones on Fear Circuitry

Rodrigues, Sarina M., LeDoux, Joseph E., Sapolsky, Robert M.·2009·Annual Review of Neuroscience

Abstract

Fear arousal, initiated by an environmental threat, leads to activation of the stress response, a state of alarm that promotes an array of autonomic and endocrine changes designed to aid self-preservation. The stress response includes the release of glucocorticoids from the adrenal cortex and catecholamines from the adrenal medulla and sympathetic nerves. These stress hormones, in turn, provide feedback to the brain and influence neural structures that control emotion and cognition. To illustrate this influence, we focus on how it impacts fear conditioning, a behavioral paradigm widely used to study the neural mechanisms underlying the acquisition, expression, consolidation, reconsolidation, and extinction of emotional memories. We also discuss how stress and the endocrine mediators of the stress response influence the morphological and electrophysiological properties of neurons in brain areas that are crucial for fear-conditioning processes, including the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. The information in this review illuminates the behavioral and cellular events that underlie the feedforward and feedback networks that mediate states of fear and stress and their interaction in the brain.

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Crossref · 10.1146/annurev.neuro.051508.135620

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  • In animals, chronic stress results in prolonged release of glucocorticoids and leads to hypertrophy of the amygdala and nucleus accumbens, atrophy of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, and functional impairment of the PFC.

    “In animals, chronic stress results in the prolonged release of glucocorticoids and leads to hypertrophy of the amygdala and nucleus accumbens, atrophy of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC), and functional impairment of the PFC (44–55).”
  • Glucocorticoid actions in the prefrontal cortex impair working memory and may indirectly exacerbate working memory impairments through interactions with catecholamine systems.

    “While this release is critical to the enhancement of long term memories associated with the event (Rodrigues et al., 2009), glucocorticoid actions in the PFC impair working memory.”
  • Tasks that rely on the habitual functions of basal ganglia circuits or the emotional conditioning of the amygdala are spared or even enhanced by stress exposure.

    “Later research in animals demonstrated that exposure to acute, uncontrollable stress impairs the working memory abilities of the PFC19,20, while tasks that rely on the habitual functions of basal ganglia circuits, for example20,21, or the emotional conditioning of the amygdala22 are spared or even enhanced by stress exposure (Fig. 1b).”
  • In contrast to that in PFC, high levels of catecholamines strengthen the affective responses of the amygdala, the habitual or compulsive responses of the striatum and sensory processing in the primary somatosensory cortex.

    “In contrast to that in PFC, high levels of catecholamines strengthen the affective responses of the amygdala22,64, the habitual or compulsive responses of the striatum65 and sensory processing in the primary somatosensory cortex66.”

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Authors
Rodrigues, S. M., LeDoux, J. E., & Sapolsky, R. M.
Affiliations
  • Oregon State University (US)
  • New York University (US)
  • Stanford Medicine (US)
Venue
Annual Review of Neuroscience
Published
2009-06-01
Volume
32
Issue
1
Pages
289-313
ISSN
  • 0147-006X (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-4126
OpenAlex
W2151027504
Cited by
556
References
33
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 31 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 40 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 55 · 2012: 40
FWCI
3.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Annual Review of Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Aging (R01AG020633)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (P50MH058911, K05MH067048, R01MH046516, R37 MH037884)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords
stress hormones, fear conditioning, stress response, glucocorticoids, catecholamines, fear memory consolidation, fear memory reconsolidation, fear extinction, amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, neuronal morphology, neuronal electrophysiology, emotional memory
MeSH terms
Animals, Brain, Catecholamines, Fear, Glucocorticoids, Hormones, Humans, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Neurosecretory Systems, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Stress, Psychological

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