Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27241140›Full record

ArticleBiological psychiatry2016

Chronic Stress Increases Prefrontal Inhibition: A Mechanism for Stress-Induced Prefrontal Dysfunction.

Jessica M McKlveen, Rachel L Morano, Maureen Fitzgerald, Sandra Zoubovsky, Sarah N Cassella, Jessie R Scheimann, Sriparna Ghosal, Parinaz Mahbod, Benjamin A Packard, Brent Myers and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biological psychiatry, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 140 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
140citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
9.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

140 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 226 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Parvalbumin interneurons under stress: converging mechanisms of vulnerability.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Review
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  10. Prefrontal contribution to passive coping behaviour in chronic stress and treatment by fast-acting antidepressant.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
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  12. Review
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80 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Jessica M McKlveenDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; Neuroscience Programe, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Rachel L MoranoDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Maureen FitzgeraldDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Sandra ZoubovskyDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Sarah N CassellaNeuroscience Programe, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; Department of Neurologye, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Jessie R ScheimannDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; Neuroscience Programe, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Sriparna GhosalDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; Neuroscience Programe, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Parinaz MahbodDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Benjamin A PackardDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Brent MyersDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mark L BacceiNeuroscience Programe, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; Department of Anesthesiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
James P HermanDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; Neuroscience Programe, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; Address correspondence to James P. Herman, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati, 2170 East Galbraith Road, ML 0506, Cincinnati, OH 45327. Electronic address: james.herman@uc.edu.
University of Cincinnati · US

Funding

FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY OF LIMBIC NEUROENDOCRINE CIRCUITSR01MH049698 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · PI HERMAN, JAMES P · 1998 to 2018
$6.2M
Brainstem Mechanisms of Stress RegulationR01MH069860 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI · PI HERMAN, JAMES P · 2004 to 2014
$3.5M
Prefrontal Cortical Circuitry Attenuates Cardiovascular Stress ReactivityR00HL122454 · NHLBI · COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY · PI MYERS, BRENT PHILIP · 2017 to 2019
$746k
Prefrontal Cortical Circuitry Attenuates Cardiovascular Stress ReactivityK99HL122454 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI · PI MYERS, BRENT PHILIP · 2015 to 2016
$218k
Prefrontal Glucocorticoid Signaling and MemoryF31MH097430 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI · PI MCKLVEEN, JESSICA MARIE · 2012 to 2013
$69k
NHLBI NIH HHS K99 HL122454NHLBI NIH HHS R00 HL122454NIMH NIH HHS F31 MH097430NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH049698NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH069860
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMultiple neuropsychiatric disorders, e.g., depression, are linked to imbalances in excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission and prefrontal cortical dysfunction, and are concomitant with chronic stress.

methodsWe used electrophysiologic (n = 5-6 animals, 21-25 cells/group), neuroanatomic (n = 6-8/group), and behavioral (n = 12/group) techniques to test the hypothesis that chronic stress increases inhibition of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) glutamatergic output neurons.

resultsUsing patch clamp recordings from infralimbic mPFC pyramidal neurons, we found that chronic stress selectively increases the frequency of miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents with no effect on amplitude, which suggests that chronic stress increases presynaptic gamma-aminobutyric acid release. Elevated gamma-aminobutyric acid release under chronic stress is accompanied by increased inhibitory appositions and terminals onto glutamatergic cells, as assessed by both immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Furthermore, chronic stress decreases glucocorticoid receptor immunoreactivity specifically in a subset of inhibitory neurons, which suggests that increased inhibitory tone in the mPFC after chronic stress may be caused by loss of a glucocorticoid receptor-mediated brake on interneuron activity. These neuroanatomic and functional changes are associated with impairment of a prefrontal-mediated behavior. During chronic stress, rats initially make significantly more errors in the delayed spatial win-shift task, an mPFC-mediated behavior, which suggests a diminished impact of the mPFC on decision making.

conclusionsTaken together, the data suggest that chronic stress increases synaptic inhibition onto prefrontal glutamatergic output neurons, limiting the influence of the prefrontal cortex in control of stress reactivity and behavior. Thus, these data provide a mechanistic link among chronic stress, prefrontal cortical hypofunction, and behavioral dysfunction.

Indexed as

AnimalsBehavior, AnimalChronic DiseaseDisease Models, Animalgamma-Aminobutyric AcidGlutamic AcidInhibitory Postsynaptic PotentialsMaleNeural InhibitionPatch-Clamp TechniquesPrefrontal CortexPyramidal CellsRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyReceptors, Glucocorticoidgamma-Aminobutyric AcidGlutamic AcidReceptors, GlucocorticoidChronic variable stressGABAGlucocorticoid receptormIPSCPrefrontal cortexStress

Identifiers

PMID27241140
PMCPMC5629635
OpenAlexW2323003929

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.