Does early stress prepare individuals for a stressful future? Stress during adolescence improves foraging under threat
Adolescent exposure to adverse environmental conditions can cause lasting changes in behaviour, cognition and physiology. One explanation for why such changes occur is that they allow organisms to adjust aspects of their phenotype to enhance function in an unfavourable environment. This concept has been investigated for stress during gestation (e.g. thrifty phenotype hypothesis, maternal mismatch […]
Testosterone has antidepressant-like efficacy and facilitates imipramine-induced neuroplasticity in male rats exposed to chronic unpredictable stress
Hypogonadal men are more likely to develop depression, while testosterone supplementation shows antidepressant-like effects in hypogonadal men and facilitates antidepressant efficacy. Depression is associated with hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis hyperactivity and testosterone exerts suppressive effects on the HPA axis. The hippocampus also plays a role in the feedback regulation of the HPA axis, and depressed patients […]