Alterations in corticolimbic dendritic morphology and emotional behavior in cannabinoid CB1 receptor-deficient mice parallel the effects of chronic stress. Cereb Cortex 2011 Sep;21(9):2056-64
Date
01/26/2011Pubmed ID
21263035Pubmed Central ID
PMC3155602DOI
10.1093/cercor/bhq280Scopus ID
2-s2.0-79959969118 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 97 CitationsAbstract
Many changes produced by chronic stress are similar to those seen in cannabinoid CB(1) receptor-deficient mice. In the current study, we examined both anxiety-like behavior and dendritic complexity within the prefrontal cortex and basolateral amygdala (BLA) in wild-type and CB(1) receptor-deficient mice, under basal conditions and following exposure to 21 days of protracted restraint stress. CB(1) receptor-deficient mice exhibited increased indices of anxiety in the elevated plus maze under basal conditions that were similar in magnitude to changes seen in wild-type mice exposed to chronic stress. Chronic stress or deletion of the CB(1) receptor also produced a reduction in both apical dendritic length and branch points of neurons within layer II/III of the prelimbic region of the prefrontal cortex. Pyramidal neurons in the (BLA) of CB(1) receptor-deficient mice were found to have increased dendritic length compared with wild type. Chronic stress increased dendritic length of these amygdalar neurons in both wild-type and CB(1) receptor-deficient mice. Collectively, these data demonstrate that loss of cannabinoid CB(1) receptor signaling produces a chronic stress-like phenotype under basal conditions and provide a putative neural substrate that may subserve the changes in emotional behavior seen following disruption of CB(1) receptor signaling.
Author List
Hill MN, Hillard CJ, McEwen BSAuthor
Cecilia J. Hillard PhD Associate Dean, Center Director, Professor in the Pharmacology and Toxicology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AmygdalaAnimals
Anxiety
Behavior, Animal
Chronic Disease
Dendrites
Emotions
Limbic System
Male
Mice
Mice, Knockout
Prefrontal Cortex
Pyramidal Cells
Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1
Stress, Psychological
