A hypothesized role for dendritic remodeling in the etiology of mood and anxiety disorders

An elegant theory that links hippocampal neurogenesis to mood and anxiety disorders and to the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs has gained widespread attention. However, depression and anxiety disorders involve multiple areas of the brain, such as the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, where neurogenesis does not appear to occur in the adult mammalian brain. A complementary theory is proposed here in which neurogenesis is seen as an epiphenomenon of a more widespread alteration in dendritic length and spine number. According to this theory, exposure to chronic stress and stressful life events increases excitotoxic glutamatergic neurotransmission in multiple brain areas. To protect neurons from consequent apoptosis, dendrites retract and spine number decreases, thus limiting the number of exposed glutamate receptors. Drugs that reduce glutamatergic neurotransmission under these circumstances, many of which have already been shown helpful in treating mood and anxiety disorders, may prevent this dendritic retraction and thus protect synaptic connections throughout the brain.