Sex-Specific Transcriptional Changes in Response to Adolescent Social Stress in the Brain's Reward Circuitry.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sex differences in addiction have been described in humans and animal models. A key factor that influences addiction in both males and females is adolescent experience. Adolescence is associated with higher vulnerability to substance use disorders, and male rodents subjected to adolescent social isolation (SI) stress form stronger preferences for drugs of abuse in adulthood. However, little is known about how females respond to SI, and few studies have investigated the transcriptional changes induced by SI in the brain's reward circuitry.

Methods

We tested the hypothesis that SI alters the transcriptome in a persistent and sex-specific manner in prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and ventral tegmental area. Mice were isolated or group housed from postnatal day

SUBMITTER: Walker DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8382786 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature