[Effects of stress factors on adult hippocampus: molecular, cellular mechanisms and dorso-ventral gradient]

Adult hippocampus is one of the brain structures selectively vulnerable to stress factors. In the hippocampus, stress-induced neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, epileptic activity and disturbances of neurogenesis take place. Stress of different modality specifically affects hippocampal structural and functional plasticity, the primary target of the stress hormones are corticosteroid receptors (glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors). Different parts of the hippocampus along the septo-temporal axis are functionally different. The dorsal hippocampus is in charge for definite forms of learning and memory, primarily spatial, while the ventral part is involved in stress response and anxiety behavior. Differences in basal and stress-induced molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuronal plasticity underlie this functional differentiation.