Maggio Nicola, Segal Menahem
Department of Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Front Cell Neurosci. 2012 Mar 20;6:12. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2012.00012. eCollection 2012.
Several new observations have shifted the view of the hippocampus from a structure in charge of cognitive processes to a brain area that participates in the formation of emotional memories, in addition to its role in cognition. Specifically, while the dorsal hippocampus is involved in the processing of cognitive memories; the ventral sector is mainly associated with the control of behavioral inhibition, stress, and emotional memory. Stress is likely to cause this switch in control of hippocampal functions by modulating synaptic plasticity in the dorsal and ventral sectors of the hippocampus through the differential activation of mineralocorticosteroid or glucocorticosteroid receptors. Herein, we will review the effects of stress hormones on synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus and outline the outcomes on stress-related global functions of this structure. We propose that steroid hormones act as molecular switches: by changing the strength of synaptic connectivity in the hippocampus following stress, they regulate the routes by which the hippocampus is functionally linked to the rest of the brain. This hypothesis has profound implications for the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders.
一些新的观察结果已将海马体的观点从一个负责认知过程的结构转变为一个除了在认知中发挥作用外，还参与情感记忆形成的脑区。具体而言，背侧海马体参与认知记忆的处理；腹侧部分主要与行为抑制、应激和情感记忆的控制相关。应激可能通过盐皮质激素或糖皮质激素受体的差异激活来调节海马体背侧和腹侧部分的突触可塑性，从而导致这种对海马体功能控制的转变。在此，我们将综述应激激素对海马体突触可塑性的影响，并概述该结构与应激相关的整体功能的结果。我们提出类固醇激素充当分子开关：通过在应激后改变海马体中突触连接的强度，它们调节海马体与大脑其他部分功能连接的途径。这一假设对精神疾病的病理生理学具有深远影响。
