Glucocorticoids protect against the delayed behavioral and cellular effects of acute stress on the amygdala.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A single episode of acute immobilization stress has previously been shown to trigger a delayed onset of anxiety-like behavior and spinogenesis in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) of rats. Spurred on by a seemingly paradoxical observation in which even a modest increase in corticosterone (CORT), caused by a single vehicle injection before stress, could dampen the delayed effects of stress, we hypothesized a protective role for glucocorticoids against stress.

Methods

We tested this hypothesis by analyzing how manipulations in CORT levels modulate delayed increase in anxiety-like behavior of rats on the elevated plus-maze 10 days after acute stress. We also investigated the cellular correlates of different levels of anxiety under different CORT conditions by quantifyin

SUBMITTER: Rao RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3753225 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature