Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and Drug Development, Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Smętna 12, PL 31-343 Kraków, Poland.
Pharmacol Rep. 2013;65(6):1479-88. doi: 10.1016/s1734-1140(13)71508-1.
It is widely accepted that chronic stress, which is considered a risk factor for several neuropsychiatric disorders, may have detrimental effects on prefrontal functions. In animal models, chronic stress produces morphological, physiological and functional alternations in the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Specifically, repeated restraint stress results in mPFC dendritic atrophy that is associated with deficits in the prefrontal cortex-dependent attentional set-shifting task (ASST). Thus, restraint-induced cognitive inflexibility may serve as a model for the study of the mechanisms, prevention and treatment of stress-related disorders. The current article provides a summary of the literature on stress-related effects on cortical functions, as assessed in the rodent ASST. The neurochemical substrates underling stress-evoked frontal-like disturbances, as well as pharmacological targets for potential treatment, are briefly discussed.
人们普遍认为，慢性应激被认为是几种神经精神疾病的风险因素，可能对前额叶功能产生不利影响。在动物模型中，慢性应激会导致大鼠内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC）发生形态、生理和功能改变。具体来说，反复束缚应激会导致 mPFC 树突萎缩，这与前额叶皮层依赖的注意定势转移任务（ASST）缺陷有关。因此，束缚诱导的认知灵活性障碍可能是研究应激相关障碍的机制、预防和治疗的模型。本文综述了啮齿类动物 ASST 评估的应激相关皮质功能的文献。简要讨论了应激引起的类似额叶障碍的神经化学基础，以及潜在治疗的药理学靶点。
