Glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor mRNA expression in squirrel monkey brain

Concurrent Glucocorticoid and Noradrenergic Activity Shifts Instrumental Behavior from Goal-Directed to Habitual Control

“…The prefrontal cortex expresses stress hormone receptors at a high density (Patel et al, 2000) and stress or stress hormones impair neuroplasticity in the prefrontal cortex (Diamond et al, 2007). In contrast, the dorsolateral striatum expresses stress hormone receptors to a lesser extent (Patel et al, 2000) which suggests a lower sensitivity of this brain area to stress hormones. Yet, there is recent evidence showing that GCs enhance dorsolateral striatum-based memory processes (Medina et al, 2007;Quirarte et al, 2009).…”

Enhancing neuronal plasticity and cellular resilience to develop novel, improved therapeutics for Difficult-to-Treat depression

“…Atrophy of CA3 pyramidal neurons also occurs upon exposure to high levels of glucocorticoids, suggesting that activation of the HPA axis likely plays a major role in mediating the stress-induced atrophy (McEwen 1999;Sapolsky 1996Sapolsky , 2000. The hippocampus has a very high concentration of glutamate and expresses both type I (mineralocorticoid receptor; MR) and type II (glucocorticoid receptor; GR) corticosteroid receptors, though type II receptors may be relatively scarce in the hippocampus of primates (Patel et al 2000;Sanchez et al 2000) and more abundant in cortical regions. Type I receptor activation in the hippocampus (CA1) is associated with reduced calcium currents, whereas activation of type II receptors causes increased calcium currents and enhanced responses to excitatory amino acids.…”

The Basolateral Amygdala Interacts with the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Regulating Glucocorticoid Effects on Working Memory Impairment

“…It is interesting to note that chronic stress or sustained hypercortisolemia induces dendritic reorganization of mPFC pyramidal neurons (Wellman, 2001) and may contribute to the onset or precipitation of symptoms for these neuropsychiatric conditions (Mazure, 1995). Because the mPFC expresses high mRNA and protein levels for GRs (Meaney and Aitken, 1985;Reul and de Kloet, 1985;Patel et al, 2000;Sanchez et al, 2000), glucocorticoids may impair working memory, at least in part, via a GR-mediated inhibition of mPFC activity during task performance. Consistent with our findings, it was reported that stress-level cortisol treatment, which at high doses preferentially binds to GRs, impairs mPFC-dependent inhibitory control of behaviors in squirrel monkeys .…”