Abstract
Activity in a prefrontal-periaqueductal gray circuit overcomes behavioral and endocrine features of the passive coping stress response
Psychoneuroendocrinology, Vol.160(Supplement), 106741
02/2024
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106741
Abstract
The question of how the brain coordinates behavioral, endocrine, and autonomic features of stress responses has remained elusive. The importance of this is problem is underscored by the observation that behavioral passivity in stress coping is associated with elevations in glucocorticoid hormones, and each may carry risks for susceptibility to a host of stress-related diseases. Past work implicates the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in the top-down regulation of stress-related behaviors; however, it is unknown whether such changes have the capacity to buffer against the longer-lasting biological consequences associated with aversive experiences. Using the shock probe defensive burying test in rats to naturalistically measure features of stress coping, we observed that the active behavioral component of stress coping is associated with increases in activity along a circuit involving the caudal mPFC and midbrain dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (PAG). Optogenetic manipulations of the caudal mPFC-to- dorsolateral PAG pathway bidirectionally modulated active (escape and defensive burying) behaviors, distinct from a rostral mPFC–ventrolateral PAG circuit that instead regulated passive (immobility) behavior and cardiovascular output. Strikingly, under conditions that biased rats toward a passive coping response set of exaggerated stress hormonal output and increased immobility, excitation of the caudal mPFC–dorsolateral PAG projection significantly attenuated each of these features. These results lend insight into how the brain coordinates response features to overcome passive coping and may be of importance for understanding how activated neural systems promote stress resilience.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Activity in a prefrontal-periaqueductal gray circuit overcomes behavioral and endocrine features of the passive coping stress response
- Creators
- Jason J. Radley - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Abstract
- Publication Details
- Psychoneuroendocrinology, Vol.160(Supplement), 106741
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106741
- ISSN
- 0306-4530
- eISSN
- 1873-3360
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/2024
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984563558002771
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