Revisiting the Stress Concept: Implications for Affective Disorders

On January 2, 2020, on the same day that this Viewpoint paper was published, Bruce McEwen passed away. His death marks the end of an era in affective neuroscience. Fifty-two years ago, Bruce brought the brain to the study of stress biology by demonstrating the existence of glucocorticoid binding sites in the hippocampus. This was but the start of a breathtaking sequence of foundational discoveries that Bruce and his colleagues have made over the decades, entirely re-framing our thinking about this most basic of functions- coping with our environment.
Many of the concepts we currently take for granted arose from his work, including the effects of steroid hormones on neural structure and neuroplasticity, the concept of allostatic load, the differentiation between “good” and “bad” stress, and the impact of general health on stress vulnerability and resilience. Bruce also thought deeply about the importance of social context on stress biology and brain health. His vision ranged from the molecular and mechanistic to the societal and humanistic. This review gives a flavor of that thinking but barely touches on the breadth and depth of his influence.
Beyond being an intellectual giant, Bruce was a remarkable human. A love of knowledge, a passion for science, a prodigious memory blended miraculously with unassailable integrity, a generous and generative spirit, exemplary mentorship and the capacity for limitless kindness and friendship. I have never met a more civilized man. It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to know him, to collaborate with him, to learn from him, and to be his friend.