ArticleNeurobiology of stress2020
Early life stress-induced alterations in the activity and morphology of ventral tegmental area neurons in female rats.
Article in Neurobiology of stress, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Enduring effects of early-life adversity on reward processes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Early life experiences, the neural epigenome and affective disorder risk.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026Review
- Temporal reorganization of maternal care during early life stress in mice.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- Article
- IBS stress reactivity phenotype is associated with blood transcriptome profiles and microstructural and functional brain changes.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- Neurobiology of resilience to early life stress.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Persistent open chromatin state in early-life stress-activated cells of the VTA.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Secure attachment to caregiver prevents adult depressive symptoms in a sex-dependent manner: A translational study.iScience · 2024Article
- Influence of Early-Life Stress on the Excitability of Dynorphin Neurons in the Adult Mouse Dorsal Horn.The journal of pain · 2024Article
- Sex differences in addiction-relevant behavioral outcomes in rodents following early life stress.Addiction neuroscience · 2023Article
- Lasting impact of postnatal maternal separation on the developing BNST: Lifelong socioemotional consequences.Neuropharmacology · 2023Review
- Sex- and exposure age-dependent effects of adolescent stress on ventral tegmental area dopamine system and its afferent regulators.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Article
- Stressed and wired: The effects of stress on the VTA circuits underlying motivated behavior.Current opinion in endocrine and metabolic research · 2022Article
- The effects of early life stress on impulsivity.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Review
- Neurodevelopmental origins of substance use disorders: Evidence from animal models of early-life adversity and addiction.The European journal of neuroscience · 2022Review
- Effects of early life stress during stress hyporesponsive period (SHRP) on anxiety and curiosity in adolescent rats.Experimental brain research · 2022Article
- The Problem of Malnutrition Associated with Major Depressive Disorder from a Sex-Gender Perspective.Nutrients · 2022Review
- Adult food choices depend on sex and exposure to early-life stress: Underlying brain circuitry, adipose tissue adaptations and metabolic responses.Neurobiology of stress · 2021Article
- Early life adversity in male mice sculpts reward circuits.Neurobiology of stress · 2021Article
- Early Life Stress and Metabolic Plasticity of Brain Cells: Impact on Neurogenesis and Angiogenesis.Biomedicines · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Childhood maltreatment, which can take the form of physical or psychological abuse, is experienced by more than a quarter of all children. Early life stress has substantial and long-term consequences, including an increased risk of drug abuse and psychiatric disorders in adolescence and adulthood, and this risk is higher in women than in men. The neuronal mechanisms underlying the influence of early life adversities on brain functioning remain poorly understood; therefore, in the current study, we used maternal separation (MS), a rodent model of early-life neglect, to verify its influence on the properties of neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a brain area critically involved in reward and motivation processing. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in brain slices from adolescent female Sprague-Dawley rats, we found an MS-induced increase in the excitability of putative dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons selectively in the medial part of the VTA. We also showed an enhancement of excitatory synaptic transmission in VTA putative DAergic neurons. MS-induced alterations in electrophysiology were accompanied by an increase in the diameter of dendritic spine heads on lateral VTA DAergic neurons, although the overall dendritic spine density remained unchanged. Finally, we reported MS-related increases in basal plasma ACTH and corticosterone levels. These results show the long-term consequences of early life stress and indicate the possible neuronal mechanisms of behavioral disturbances in individuals who experience early life neglect.
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Registered trials
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.