Abstract
When subjected to stress, some individuals develop maladaptive symptoms whereas others retain normal behavior. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is known to control these adaptive responses to stress. Here, we show that mPFC neurons in the left hemisphere control stress effects on social behavior. Mice made socially avoidant by the stress of chronic social defeats showed depressed neural activity in the left mPFC. Photoactivation of these neurons reversed social avoidance and restored social activity. Despite social defeats, resilient mice with normal sociability showed normal firing rates in the left mPFC; however, photoinhibition of these neurons induced social avoidance. The same photomodulation administered to the right mPFC caused no significant effects. These results explain how stressed individuals develop maladaptive behaviors through left cortical depression, as reported in mood and anxiety disorders.
Highlights
When subjected to stress, some individuals develop maladaptive symptoms whereas others retain normal behavior
Lateralization of the medial prefrontal cortex in stress has been studied as focused on the modulation of stress hormones[14], which has been implicated in behavioral deficits induced by chronic stress[15,16]
Social avoidance is known to be associated with medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activity[29,33], functional differences between the two hemispheres in the manifestation of this behavior have not been investigated
Summary
Some individuals develop maladaptive symptoms whereas others retain normal behavior. Mice made socially avoidant by the stress of chronic social defeats showed depressed neural activity in the left mPFC. Photoactivation of these neurons reversed social avoidance and restored social activity. The same photomodulation administered to the right mPFC caused no significant effects These results explain how stressed individuals develop maladaptive behaviors through left cortical depression, as reported in mood and anxiety disorders. Lateralization of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in stress has been studied as focused on the modulation of stress hormones[14], which has been implicated in behavioral deficits induced by chronic stress[15,16]. The right mPFC hemisphere is known to predominantly control stress hormones in stressed animals[23], whether other mPFC functions are lateralized www.nature.com/scientificreports/
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