Adolescent Stress Confers Resilience to Traumatic Stress Later in Life: Role of the Prefrontal Cortex

COTELLA, EVELIN M.; NAWREEN, NAWSHABA; MOLONEY, RACHEL D.; MARTELLE, SUSAN E.; OSHIMA, KRISTEN M.; LEMEN, PAIGE; NIBLACK, JORDAN N.; JULAKANTI, REETU R.; FITZGERALD, MAUREEN; BACCEI, MARK L.; HERMAN, JAMES P.

Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science

Elsevier

Año: 2022

2667-1743

BackgroundAdolescent brains are sensitive to stressors. However, under certain circumstances, developmental stress can promote an adaptive phenotype, allowing individuals to cope better with adverse situations in adulthood, thereby contributing to resilience.MethodsSprague Dawley rats (50 males, 48 females) were subjected to adolescent chronic variable stress (adol CVS) for 2-weeks at PND45. At PND 85, a group was subjected to single prolonged stress (SPS). After a week, animals were evaluated in an auditory-cued fear conditioning paradigm and neuronal recruitment during reinstatement was assessed by Fos expression. Patch clamp electrophysiology (17-35 cells/group) was performed in male rats to examine physiological changes associated with resilience.ResultsAdol CVS blocked fear potentiation evoked by SPS. We observed that SPS impaired extinction (males) and enhanced reinstatement (both sexes) of the conditioned freezing response. Prior adol CVS prevented both effects. SPS effects were associated with a reduction of infralimbic (IL) cortex neuronal recruitment after reinstatement in males and increased engagement of the central amygdala in females, both also prevented by adol CVS, suggesting different neurocircuits involved in generating resilience between sexes. We explored the mechanism behind reduced IL recruitment in males by studying the intrinsic excitability of IL pyramidal neurons. SPS reduced excitability of IL neurons and prior adol CVS prevented this effect.ConclusionOur data indicate that adolescent stress can impart resilience to the effects of traumatic stress on neuroplasticity and behavior. Our data provide a mechanistic link behind developmental stress induced behavioral resilience and prefrontal (IL) cortical excitability in males.