Chronic Stress and Neuropathology: Neurochemical, Molecular, and Genetic Factors

摘要

The work that constitutes this Final Addendum Report derived from the hypothesis that individual differences in stress reactivity derived from selective breeding generalize to a behavioral phenotype that will reflect a predisposition to stress and negative affect. The results indicate that ACTH responsiveness to footshock stress is heritable, is a generalizable trait that also alters corticosterone responsiveness to other stressors, and is amenable to selective breeding in the rat. Genetic differences in stress responsiveness in replicate line 1 were associated with differences in anxiety-like behavior, body weight gain and voluntary intake of sweet solutions and ethanol -- possible indications of altered hedonic homeostasis. For some traits, the high stress responsive line was found to diverge from outbred stock, whereas for other traits the low stress responsive line was found to be different. The replicate lines may help identify the genetic basis of hyper- and hypo-stress responsiveness and associated stress-related disorders.