Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42625654›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in cellular neuroscience2026

Adolescent stress exposure: behavioral consequences and molecular mechanisms in corticolimbic networks.

Evelin M Cotella, Rachel D Moloney, Parinaz Mahbod, Susan Martelle, Rachel L Morano, Benjamin A Packard, James P Herman

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in cellular neuroscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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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

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Evelin M CotellaDepartment of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neurobiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States.
Rachel D Moloney *Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neurobiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States.
Parinaz MahbodDepartment of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neurobiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States.
Susan MartelleDepartment of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neurobiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States.
Rachel L MoranoDepartment of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neurobiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States.
Benjamin A PackardDepartment of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neurobiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States.
James P HermanDepartment of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neurobiology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States.

Funding

FUNCTIONAL ANATOMY OF LIMBIC NEUROENDOCRINE CIRCUITSR01MH049698 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · PI HERMAN, JAMES P · 1998 to 2018
$6.2M
Stress resilience by natural rewards: neurocircuit mechanismsR01MH119814 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI · PI HERMAN, JAMES P, ULRICH-LAI, YVONNE MICHELLE · 2019 to 2023
$2.9M
Training Program in Neuroendocrinology of HomeostasisT32DK059803 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI · PI WOODS, STEPHEN C · 2001 to 2017
$2.8M
Adolescent Stress and Prefrontal Cortical CircuitryR01MH101729 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI · PI HERMAN, JAMES P · 2014 to 2018
$2.0M
BLRD VA I01 BX003858NIDDK NIH HHS T32 DK059803NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH049698NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH101729NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH119814
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescence is a sensitive developmental period during which chronic stress can induce lasting adaptations in corticolimbic circuits involved in stress regulation, cognition, and emotional behavior. We examined the long-term behavioral, endocrine, and molecular consequences of adolescent chronic variable stress (CVS) in male and female rats, focusing on the infralimbic cortex (IL) and basolateral amygdala (BLA). Methods: Sprague Dawley rats of both sexes were exposed to CVS during late adolescence and evaluated in adulthood after an extensive recovery period. Behavioral testing included cued fear conditioning and extinction recall, delayed spatial win-shift, novel object recognition, Morris water maze, three-chamber social behavior, and passive avoidance. HPA-axis reactivity to acute restraint was assessed. Targeted qPCR was used to measure stress-related gene expression in the IL and BLA immediately after stress or after a 5-week recovery period. Results: Adolescent CVS did not cause generalized cognitive impairment, but instead produced selective, sex-specific effects. Females had reduced HPA responses to acute stress and mild deficits in delayed spatial win-shift performance, together with long-term IL changes in genes related to adrenergic signaling, plasticity, and GABA clearance. Males showed enhanced Morris water maze probe retention, weaker novel object discrimination, altered passive avoidance with marked inter-individual variability, and enhanced social preference. At the molecular level, males exhibited long-term upregulation of Fkbp5 in IL and downregulation of PACAP, α1D adrenergic receptor, and proenkephalin in BLA, whereas females showed delayed PACAP upregulation in BLA. Discussion: Adolescent CVS induces persistent, sex- and region-specific recalibration of corticolimbic function, supporting distinct patterns of vulnerability and resilience, rather than uniform stress pathology.

Indexed as

adolescenceadolescent stressbasolateral amygdalachronic variable stressprefrontal cortex

Identifiers

PMID42625654
PMCPMC13489889

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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.