title: Short- and long-term consequences of stressor controllability in adolescent rats.
abstract: Adolescence is a developmental period in which brain structures involved with stress responses, such as the medial pre-frontal cortex (mPFC), mature. Therefore, exposure to a stressor at this time may have effects that endure the lifespan. The goal of the present study was to determine whether behavioral control over an adolescent stressor mitigates the behavioral and neurochemical consequences of the stressor as occurs in adult rats. Adolescent rats (post natal day 35) were exposed to either inescapable (IS) or escapable tailshocks (ES). As in adults we observed a "stressor controllability effect"; IS reduced social exploration and activated the serotonergic dorsal raphé nucleus while ES did not. Excitotoxic lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex prevented the stressor controllability effect. We also demonstrate that a controllable adolescent stress prevents the behavioral and neurochemical consequences of IS in adulthood. Thus, the controllability of a stressor during adolescence is an important psychological factor.
authors: Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, The Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. kenneth.kubala@colorado.edu
authors: Kenneth H
authors: KH
authors: Kubala
authors: John P
authors: JP
authors: Christianson
authors: Richard D
authors: RD
authors: Kaufman
authors: Linda R
authors: LR
authors: Watkins
authors: Steven F
authors: SF
authors: Maier
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001703:Biophysics; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004597:Electroshock / Q000009:adverse effects; D004924:Escape Reaction / Q000502:physiology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D006380:Helplessness, Learned; D008297:Male; D016761:Oncogene Proteins v-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000293:injuries / Q000378:metabolism*; D011903:Raphe Nuclei / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011930:Reaction Time; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism; D012919:Social Behavior; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D016761:Oncogene Proteins v-fos; D012701:Serotonin