title: Early hippocampal volume loss as a marker of eventual memory deficits caused by repeated stress.
abstract: Exposure to severe and prolonged stress has detrimental effects on the hippocampus. However, relatively little is known about the gradual changes in hippocampal structure, and its behavioral consequences, over the course of repeated stress. Behavioral analyses during 10 days of chronic stress pointed to a delayed decline in spatial memory, the full impact of which is evident only after the end of stress. In contrast, concurrent volumetric measurements in the same animals revealed significant reduction in hippocampal volumes in stressed animals relative to their unstressed counterparts, as early as the third day of stress. Notably, animals that were behaviorally the worst affected at the end of chronic stress suffered the most pronounced early loss in hippocampal volume. Together, these findings support the view that not only is smaller hippocampal volume linked to stress-induced memory deficits, but it may also act as an early risk factor for the eventual development of cognitive impairments seen in stress-related psychiatric disorders.
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560065, India.|Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Mohammed Mostafizur
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Charlotte K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Callaghan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Christian M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kerskens
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560065, India.
authors.forename: Sumantra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chattarji
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Shane M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: O'Mara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D009929:Organ Size; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D065852:Spatial Memory; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis