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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Whole-cell Patch-clamp Recordings in Brain Slices

Whole-cell Patch-clamp Recordings in Brain Slices

Published on: June 15, 2016

Stress- and allostasis-induced brain plasticity.

Bruce S McEwen¹, Peter J Gianaros

¹Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, USA. mcewen@mail.rockefeller.edu

Annual Review of Medicine

|August 17, 2010

Summary

The brain orchestrates stress responses and adapts through neural plasticity. Chronic stress can lead to maladaptive changes, impacting mental and physical health, but interventions targeting brain mechanisms offer potential treatments.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychobiology
Stress Research

Background:

The brain is central to processing and responding to stress.
Stressful experiences induce functional and structural brain changes.
Neural circuitry manages behavioral and physiological stress responses.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the role of brain plasticity in stress adaptation and pathophysiology.
To explore how allostasis and allostatic load influence health conditions.
To examine interventions targeting brain mechanisms for stress-related disorders.

Main Methods:

Literature review focusing on brain plasticity and stress.
Analysis of allodynamic processes and their impact on health.
Synthesis of research on interventions for stress-related conditions.

Main Results:

Brain plasticity is crucial for adapting to and developing pathophysiology from stress.
Allostasis (short-term adaptation) and allostatic load (long-term burden) involve bidirectional brain-body signaling.
These processes influence vulnerability to mental and physical health conditions.

Conclusions:

Brain plasticity underlies both adaptive and maladaptive responses to stress.
Understanding allodynamic mechanisms is key to addressing stress-related health issues.
Interventions targeting brain plasticity can prevent and treat prevalent health conditions.