Cognitive impact of social stress and coping strategy throughout development

Abstract

Rationale Stress experience during adolescence has been linked to the development of psychiatric disorders in adulthood, many of which are associated with impairments in prefrontal cortex function. Objective The current study was designed to determine the immediate and enduring effects of repeated social stress on a prefrontal cortex-dependent cognitive task. Methods Early adolescent (P28), mid-adolescent (P42), and adult (P70) rats were exposed to resident–intruder stress for 5 days and tested in an operant strategy-shifting task (OSST) during the following week or several weeks later during adulthood. Engagement of prefrontal cortical neurons during the task was assessed by expression of the immediate early gene, c-fos. Results Social stress during adolescence had no immediate effects on task performance, but impaired strategy-shifting in adulthood, whereas social stress that occurred during adulthood had no effect. The cognitive impairment produced by adolescent social stress was most pronounced in rats with a passive coping strategy. Notably, strategy-shifting performance was positively correlated with medial prefrontal cortical c-fos in adulthood but not in adolescence, suggesting that the task engages different brain regions in adolescents compared to adults. Conclusions Adolescent social stress produces a protracted impairment in prefrontal cortex-mediated cognition that is related to coping strategy. This impairment may be selectively expressed in adulthood because prefrontal cortical activity is integral to task performance at this age but not during adolescence.

In tribute to Bob Blanchard: Divergent behavioral phenotypes of 16p11.2 deletion mice reared in same-genotype versus mixed-genotype cages

“…The recognition learning and memory deficits in mixed-genotype +/− are not attributable to a lack of exposure to the objects, for time spent sniffing the two identical objects during the habituation phase was not different between genotypes or affected by social housing. A large body of literature reports impaired learning and memory in subordinate animals or animals with social stress experience during adolescence [95][96][97][98][99][100][101]. Without comprehensive data on social interactions in the home cages, or direct measurements of stress, the speculation that object recognition deficits in +/− are relevant to their subordinate status in the home cages remains to be tested.…”

Acute stress and working memory: The role of sex and cognitive stress appraisal

“…Furthermore, even though coping strategies have been positively related to WM (i.e. Putman & Roelofs, 2011;Snyder, Barry, & Valentino, 2014), sex differences in coping strategies have been widely observed. Indeed, several studies have observed that women suffer more stress than men, and their coping style is more emotion-focused than that of men (Pilar, 2014).…”

“…Putman & Roelofs, 2011;Snyder, Barry, & Valentino, 2014). Oxytocin has been related to a higher self-concept of one's own competences in both sexes (Cardoso, Linnen, Joober, & Ellenbogen, 2011).…”

Corticotropin-releasing Factor in the Rat Dorsal Raphe Nucleus Promotes Different Forms of Behavioral Flexibility Depending on Social Stress History

“…Training and testing of the OSST was identical to that previously described (Snyder et al, 2014) and modified from the original procedure described by Floresco et al (2008); see Supplementary Information for details. Rats were first trained to press one of two levers for food reinforcement on the first training day and the opposite lever on the following day.…”

“…Omitted trials were not included in the TTC measure. Error types within both the SR and LD stages of the OSST were characterized using logistic regression to determine whether treatments impacted perseveration of the previous rule or the acquisition and maintenance of the new rule (see Supplementary Information; Snyder et al, 2014).…”