Early life stress disrupts social behavior and prefrontal cortex parvalbumin interneurons at an earlier time-point in females than in males.

ABSTRACT: Early life stress exposure (ELS) yields risk for psychiatric disorders that might occur though a population-specific mechanism that impacts prefrontal cortical development. Sex differences in ELS effects are largely unknown and are also essential to understand social and cognitive development. ELS can cause dysfunction within parvalbumin (PVB)-containing inhibitory interneurons in the prefrontal cortex and in several prefrontal cortex-mediated behaviors including social interaction. Social behavior deficits are often the earliest observed changes in psychiatric disorders, therefore the time-course and causation of social interaction deficits after ELS are important to determine. PVB interneuron dysfunction can disrupt social behavior, and has been correlated in males with elevated markers

SUBMITTER: Holland FH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4476267 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature