Neural circuits and activity dynamics underlying sex-specific effects of chronic social isolation stress

• Main Authors: Tao Tan, Wei Wang, Tiaotiao Liu, Ping Zhong, Megan Conrow-Graham, Xin Tian, Zhen Yan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-03-01
• Series: Cell Reports
• Subjects: social isolation stress; aggression; social withdrawal; in vivo recording; chemogenetics; neuronal circuits
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124721001881

Summary: Exposure to prolonged stress in critical developmental periods induces heightened vulnerability to psychiatric disorders, which may have sex-specific consequences. Here we investigate the neuronal circuits mediating behavioral changes in mice after chronic adolescent social isolation stress. Escalated aggression is exhibited in stressed males, while social withdrawal is shown in stressed females. In vivo multichannel recordings of free-moving animals indicate that pyramidal neurons in prefrontal cortex (PFC) from stressed males exhibit the significantly decreased spike activity during aggressive attacks, while PFC pyramidal neurons from stressed females show a blunted increase of discharge rates during sociability tests. Chemogenetic and electrophysiological evidence shows that PFC hypofunctioning and BLA principal neuron hyperactivity contribute to the elevated aggression in stressed males, while PFC hypofunctioning and VTA dopamine neuron hypoactivity contribute to the diminished sociability in stressed females. These results establish a framework for understanding the circuit and physiological mechanisms underlying sex-specific divergent effects of stress.