Impact of Stress on Prefrontal Glutamatergic, Monoaminergic and Cannabinoid Systems

Abstract

Stress has been shown to have marked and divergent effects on learning and memory which involves specific brain regions, such as spatial and declarative memory involving the hippocampus, memory of emotional arousing experiences and fear involving the amygdala, and executive functions and fear extinction involving the prefrontal cortex or the PFC. Response to stress involves a coordinated activation of a constellation of physiological systems including the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and other modulatory neurotransmitters and signaling systems. This paper presents a concise review of the effects of stress and glucocorticoids on the glutamatergic and monoaminergic (including noradrenergic, dopaminergic, and serotonergic systems) neurotransmitter systems as well as endocannabinoid signaling. Because of the breadth of the scope of this topic, the review is limited to the effects of stress on these brain systems on the prefrontal cortex, and where relevant, the hippocampus and the amygdala.

The Impact of Chronic Social Stress on Emotional Behavior in Mice and the Therapeutic Effect of Peripheral Mild-Heat Stimulation

“…But it is possible that the promotion of the production and release of glucocorticoid by stress stimulation is involved. As mentioned above, glucocorticoid receptor stimulation in the prefrontal cortex increases the release of stress-related neuromodulator dopamine [28] in the prefrontal cortex, through the positive-feedback system to midbrain dopamine neurons [35]. The present results demonstrated that serum glucocorticoid was significantly increased 2 weeks after the isolated rearing, and this increase was boosted further after 4 to 6 weeks of stress delivery (Figure 3).…”

“…The physiological responses including the autonomic nervous system and the HPA axis and the behavioral reactions such as avoidance and escape, both caused by the exposure to stress, are essentially protective responses to the stress [21] [22]. Besides the peripheral effects such as increased blood sugar level, the release of glucocorticoid is known to release dopamine in the prefrontal cortex [28], another example for the adaptive response. However, it is also indicated that the brain system involved in stress reactions is formed dynamically depending on the developing process [29] [30], where stress given in the juvenile stage decreases hippocampal volume [31] and has impacts on emotions and cognitive functions after maturation [32].…”

Effect of hangekobokuto for amelioration of aggressiveness and social behavior in socially isolated mice

“…It is possible, however, that the promotion of the production and release of glucocorticoid by stress stimulation is involved. As noted, glucocorticoid receptor stimulation in the prefrontal cortex increases the release of the stress‐related neuromodulator dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, through the positive‐feedback system to midbrain dopamine neurons . In the present study, serum glucocorticoid was significantly increased 4 weeks after isolated rearing.…”

“…The physiological responses involving the autonomic nervous system and the HPA axis, and the behavioral reactions such as avoidance and escape, both caused by exposure to stress, are essentially protective responses to the stress . Besides the peripheral effects such as increased blood sugar, the release of glucocorticoid is known to release dopamine in the prefrontal cortex , another example of the adaptive response. The brain system involved in stress reactions, however, is formed dynamically depending on the development process , in which stress in the juvenile stage decreases hippocampal volume and has an effect on emotion and cognitive function after maturation .…”

Chronic Stress Induces a Hyporeactivity of the Autonomic Nervous System in Response to Acute Mental Stressor and Impairs Cognitive Performance in Business Executives

“…Catecholamines are known to control the initial response to stress, whereas glucocorticoids take a longer time to be secreted and have considerable long-lasting effects [ 14 ]. Acute stress induces specific patterns of neuronal activation within the brain and stimulates excess transmission in the dopaminergic projections in the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices [ 15 , 16 ]. Furthermore, acute stress induces the release of higher concentrations of glucocorticoids disrupting memory formation and impairing learning [ 17 – 19 ] because glucocorticoids can modulate these processes [ 20 , 21 ].…”