Prefrontal cortex executive processes affected by stress in health and disease

Girotti, Milena; Adler, Samantha M.; Bulin, Sarah E.; Fucich, Elizabeth A.; Paredes, Denisse; Morilak, David A.

doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2017.07.004

Cited by 101 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 423 publications

(493 reference statements)

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“…Executive function can be impacted by deleterious events throughout the life span, including gestational and early life insults, stress, drug abuse, and aging [15][16][17][18][19][20]. These adverse environmental events are also linked to an increased risk for the development of many, if not most, neuropsychiatric conditions including mood disorders, dementias, psychosis, and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Let’s call the whole thing off: evaluating gender and sex differences in executive function

Grissom

Reyes

2018

Neuropsychopharmacol

190

144

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The executive functions allow for purposeful, deliberate, and intentional interactions with the world-attention and focus, impulse control, decision making, and working memory. These measures have been correlated with academic outcomes and quality of life, and are impacted by deleterious environmental events throughout the life span, including gestational and early life insults. This review will address the topic of sex differences in executive function including a discussion of differences arising in response to developmental programming. Work on gender differences in human studies and sex differences in animal research will be reviewed. Overall, we find little support for significant gender or sex differences in executive function. An important variable that factors into the interpretation of potential sex differences include differing developmental trajectories. We conclude by discussing future directions for the field and a brief discussion of biological mechanisms.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Let’s call the whole thing off: evaluating gender and sex differences in executive function

Grissom

Reyes

2018

Neuropsychopharmacol

190

144

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“…Several studies have examined the effects of NE and stress on prefrontal function. Footshock and other acute stressors increase NE levels in the mPFC (Korf et al, 1973 ; Gresch et al, 1994 ; Finlay et al, 1995 ; Hatfield et al, 1999 ; Ishizuka et al, 2000 ; Morilak et al, 2005 ; Girotti et al, 2017 ). Similar to other brain regions, NE effects on PFC function are highly dependent upon the prevailing level of NE and the task requirements.…”

Section: Stress the Lc-ne System And The Fear Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noradrenergic Modulation of Fear Conditioning and Extinction

Giustino

Maren

2018

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

160

147

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The locus coeruleus norepinephrine (LC-NE) system plays a broad role in learning and memory. Here we begin with an overview of the LC-NE system. We then consider how both direct and indirect manipulations of the LC-NE system affect cued and contextual aversive learning and memory. We propose that NE dynamically modulates Pavlovian conditioning and extinction, either promoting or impairing learning aversive processes under different levels of behavioral arousal. We suggest that under high levels of stress (e.g., during/soon after fear conditioning) the locus coeruleus (LC) promotes cued fear learning by enhancing amygdala function while simultaneously blunting prefrontal function. Under low levels of arousal, the LC promotes PFC function to promote downstream inhibition of the amygdala and foster the extinction of cued fear. Thus, LC-NE action on the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) might be described by an inverted-U function such that it can either enhance or hinder learning depending on arousal states. In addition, LC-NE seems to be particularly important for the acquisition, consolidation and extinction of contextual fear memories. This may be due to dense adrenoceptor expression in the hippocampus (HPC) which encodes contextual information, and the ability of NE to regulate long-term potentiation (LTP). Moreover, recent work reveals that the diversity of LC-NE functions in aversive learning and memory are mediated by functionally heterogeneous populations of LC neurons that are defined by their projection targets. Hence, LC-NE function in learning and memory is determined by projection-specific neuromodulation that accompanies various states of behavioral arousal.

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“…In addition to regulating limbic-striatal stress and reward systems, the PFC contributes to many higher-order executive functions (Girotti, Adler, Bulin, Fucich, Paredes, & Morilak, 2018). Among other functions, the PFC plays an essential role in attentional and cognitive processes, behavioral control, impulsivity, working memory, and decision-making (Goldstein & Volkow, 2011).…”

Section: Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Life Stress and Substance Use Disorders: Underlying Neurobiology and Pathways to Adverse Outcomes

2020

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Early life stress (ELS) has been established as a major risk factor for a multitude of psychiatric and medical disorders. ELS is highly prevalent in the general population and constitutes a major public health concern. The current review will focus on the clinical literature that suggests a link between adverse early life experiences and vulnerability for adolescent and adult substance use disorders. It will investigate the characteristics of ELS that appear to increase risk for disorder onset and a more severe disease course, characterized by earlier onset, greater risk of relapse, and treatment resistance. The authors explore how ELS may increase risk for adverse substance use outcomes through long-lasting changes in the HPA axis and development of stress, reward, and executive control brain systems. The review will also discuss potential pathways to substance use disorder following ELS, with a focus on the role of comorbid mood and anxiety disorders and other modifiable traits. Finally, the authors will discuss how the current body of work presents the potential for prevention and intervention strategies to reduce the psychosocial consequences following early life stress and minimize adverse substance use outcomes.

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Prefrontal cortex executive processes affected by stress in health and disease

Cited by 101 publications

References 423 publications

Let’s call the whole thing off: evaluating gender and sex differences in executive function

Let’s call the whole thing off: evaluating gender and sex differences in executive function

Noradrenergic Modulation of Fear Conditioning and Extinction

Early Life Stress and Substance Use Disorders: Underlying Neurobiology and Pathways to Adverse Outcomes

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