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Updated: Apr 11, 2026

Author Spotlight: Understanding Adolescent Social Adversity Effects on Neurodevelopment in Mice
Published on: March 15, 2024
Excitatory transmission at thalamo-striatal synapses mediates susceptibility to social stress
Daniel J Christoffel1, Sam A Golden2, Jessica J Walsh3
11] Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA. [2] Nancy Pritzker Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Abstract:
Postsynaptic remodeling of glutamatergic synapses on ventral striatum (vSTR) medium spiny neurons (MSNs) is critical for shaping stress responses. However, it is unclear which presynaptic inputs are involved. Susceptible mice exhibited increased synaptic strength at intralaminar thalamus (ILT), but not prefrontal cortex (PFC), inputs to vSTR MSNs following chronic social stress. Modulation of ILT-vSTR versus PFC-vSTR neuronal activity differentially regulated dendritic spine plasticity and social avoidance.
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