Chronic behavioral stress induces apical dendritic reorganization in pyramidal neurons of the medial prefrontal cortex - PubMed

Chronic behavioral stress induces apical dendritic reorganization in pyramidal neurons of the medial prefrontal cortex

J J Radley et al. Neuroscience. 2004.

Abstract

Both the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) play an important role in the negative feedback regulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity during physiologic and behavioral stress. Moreover, chronic behavioral stress is known to affect the morphology of CA3c pyramidal neurons in the rat, by reducing total branch number and length of apical dendrites. In the present study, we investigated the effects of behavioral stress on the mPFC, using the repeated restraint stress paradigm. Animals were perfused after 21 days of daily restraint, and intracellular iontophoretic injections of Lucifer Yellow were carried out in pyramidal neurons of layer II/III of the anterior cingulate cortex and prelimbic area. Cellular reconstructions were performed on apical and basal dendrites of pyramidal neurons in layer II/III of the anterior cingulate and prelimbic cortices. We observed a significant reduction on the total length (20%) and branch numbers (17%) of apical dendrites, and no significant reduction in basal dendrites. These cellular changes may impair the capacity of the mPFC to suppress the response of the HPA axis to stress, and offer an experimental model of stress-induced neocortical reorganization that may provide a structural basis for the cognitive impairments observed in post-traumatic stress disorder.

Similar articles

• Repeated stress induces dendritic spine loss in the rat medial prefrontal cortex.

  Radley JJ, Rocher AB, Miller M, Janssen WG, Liston C, Hof PR, McEwen BS, Morrison JH. Radley JJ, et al. Cereb Cortex. 2006 Mar;16(3):313-20. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhi104. Epub 2005 May 18. Cereb Cortex. 2006. PMID: 15901656

• Reversibility of apical dendritic retraction in the rat medial prefrontal cortex following repeated stress.

  Radley JJ, Rocher AB, Janssen WG, Hof PR, McEwen BS, Morrison JH. Radley JJ, et al. Exp Neurol. 2005 Nov;196(1):199-203. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2005.07.008. Epub 2005 Aug 10. Exp Neurol. 2005. PMID: 16095592

• Diurnal rhythm and stress regulate dendritic architecture and spine density of pyramidal neurons in the rat infralimbic cortex.

  Perez-Cruz C, Simon M, Flügge G, Fuchs E, Czéh B. Perez-Cruz C, et al. Behav Brain Res. 2009 Dec 28;205(2):406-13. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2009.07.021. Epub 2009 Jul 28. Behav Brain Res. 2009. PMID: 19643147

• Role of brain norepinephrine in the behavioral response to stress.

  Morilak DA, Barrera G, Echevarria DJ, Garcia AS, Hernandez A, Ma S, Petre CO. Morilak DA, et al. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Dec;29(8):1214-24. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2005.08.007. Epub 2005 Oct 13. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2005. PMID: 16226365 Review.

• Chronic stress-induced cellular changes in the medial prefrontal cortex and their potential clinical implications: does hemisphere location matter?

  Czéh B, Perez-Cruz C, Fuchs E, Flügge G. Czéh B, et al. Behav Brain Res. 2008 Jun 26;190(1):1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2008.02.031. Epub 2008 Mar 10. Behav Brain Res. 2008. PMID: 18384891 Review.

Cited by

• Considering sex as a biological variable will require a global shift in science culture.

  Shansky RM, Murphy AZ. Shansky RM, et al. Nat Neurosci. 2021 Apr;24(4):457-464. doi: 10.1038/s41593-021-00806-8. Epub 2021 Mar 1. Nat Neurosci. 2021. PMID: 33649507 Review.

• Stress-induced deficits in cognition and emotionality: a role of glutamate.

  Graybeal C, Kiselycznyk C, Holmes A. Graybeal C, et al. Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2012;12:189-207. doi: 10.1007/7854_2011_193. Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2012. PMID: 22261703 Free PMC article. Review.

• Early life stress accelerates behavioral and neural maturation of the hippocampus in male mice.

  Bath KG, Manzano-Nieves G, Goodwill H. Bath KG, et al. Horm Behav. 2016 Jun;82:64-71. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.04.010. Epub 2016 May 4. Horm Behav. 2016. PMID: 27155103 Free PMC article.

• Expression of p21-activated kinases 1 and 3 is altered in the brain of subjects with depression.

  Fuchsova B, Alvarez Juliá A, Rizavi HS, Frasch AC, Pandey GN. Fuchsova B, et al. Neuroscience. 2016 Oct 1;333:331-44. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.07.037. Epub 2016 Jul 27. Neuroscience. 2016. PMID: 27474226 Free PMC article.

• Effect of acute and chronic stress on memory impairment and hippocampal oxidative stress following global cerebral ischemia in adult male rats.

  Forghani N, Hosseinian S, Akhoond-Ali Z, Gholami AA, Assaran-Darban R, Vafaee F. Forghani N, et al. Res Pharm Sci. 2024 Aug 19;19(4):436-446. doi: 10.4103/RPS.RPS_24_23. eCollection 2024 Aug. Res Pharm Sci. 2024. PMID: 39399732 Free PMC article.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

• Full Text Sources

  • Elsevier Science

• Medical

  • MedlinePlus Health Information