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The Journal of Neuroscience, April 1, 1999, 19(7):2834-2840
Lateralized Effects of Medial Prefrontal Cortex Lesions on
Neuroendocrine and Autonomic Stress Responses in Rats
Ron M.
Sullivan and
Alain
Gratton
Douglas Hospital Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, McGill
University, Montréal, Québec Canada H4H 1R3
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is highly activated by stress
and modulates neuroendocrine and autonomic function. Dopaminergic inputs to mPFC facilitate coping ability and demonstrate considerable hemispheric functional lateralization. The present study investigated the potentially lateralized regulation of stress responses at the level
of mPFC output neurons, using ibotenic acid lesions. Neuroendocrine
function was assessed by plasma corticosterone increases in response to
acute or repeated 20 min restraint stress. The primary index of
autonomic activation was gastric ulcer development during a separate
cold restraint stress. Restraint-induced defecation was also monitored.
Plasma corticosterone levels were markedly lower in response to
repeated versus acute restraint stress. In acutely restrained animals,
right or bilateral, but not left mPFC lesions, decreased prestress
corticosterone levels, whereas in repeatedly restrained rats, the same
lesions significantly reduced the peak stress-induced corticosterone
response. Stress ulcer development (after a single cold restraint
stress) was greatly reduced by either right or bilateral mPFC lesions
but was unaffected by left lesions. Restraint-induced defecation was
elevated in animals with left mPFC lesions. Finally, a left-biased
asymmetry in adrenal gland weights was observed across animals, which
was unaffected by mPFC lesions. The results suggest that mPFC output neurons demonstrate an intrinsic right brain specialization in both
neuroendocrine and autonomic activation. Such findings may be
particularly relevant to clinical depression which is associated with
both disturbances in stress regulatory systems and hemispheric imbalances in prefrontal function.
Key words:
prefrontal cortex; asymmetry; ibotenic acid; stress
ulcers; corticosterone; HPA axis; clinical depression; dopamine
Copyright © 1999 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/99/1972834-07$05.00/0
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