Chronic Social Defeat Stress Modulates Dendritic Spines Structural Plasticity in Adult Mouse Frontal Association Cortex.

ABSTRACT: Chronic stress is associated with occurrence of many mental disorders. Previous studies have shown that dendrites and spines of pyramidal neurons of the prefrontal cortex undergo drastic reorganization following chronic stress experience. So the prefrontal cortex is believed to play a key role in response of neural system to chronic stress. However, how stress induces dynamic structural changes in neural circuit of prefrontal cortex remains unknown. In the present study, we examined the effects of chronic social defeat stress on dendritic spine structural plasticity in the mouse frontal association (FrA) cortex in vivo using two-photon microscopy. We found that chronic stress altered spine dynamics in FrA and increased the connectivity in FrA neural circuits. We also found that the

SUBMITTER: Shu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5286490 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature