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Prefrontal endocannabinoids, stress controllability and resilience: A hypothesis
Nicholas B Worley1, Matthew N Hill2, John P Christianson1
1Department of Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA.
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry
|April 11, 2017
Summary
Experiencing control over stressors reduces immediate stress and builds long-term resilience. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex and endocannabinoid system may mediate these stress-coping effects.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Behavioral Biology
Background:
- Stressor exposure is a risk factor for psychiatric conditions like PTSD and depression.
- Individual responses to stressors vary, with some becoming vulnerable and others resilient.
- Control over stressors is a potent factor influencing vulnerability versus resilience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in stressor controllability.
- To explore the endocannabinoid (eCB) system as a mediator of control's effects.
- To hypothesize how eCBs in the vmPFC contribute to long-lasting stress resilience.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing scientific literature on stress, control, vmPFC, and eCBs.
- Summarizing evidence implicating the vmPFC in stressor controllability circuits.
- Examining the role of the eCB system in synaptic plasticity within the vmPFC.
Main Results:
- The vmPFC is a critical brain region for stressor controllability.
- Neuroplasticity in the vmPFC underlies acute and long-lasting effects of control.
- The eCB system is a potential mediator of synaptic transmission in the vmPFC related to control.
Conclusions:
- Behavioral control over stress has acute and lasting stress-mitigating effects.
- The vmPFC is a key neuroplastic locus for the consequences of stress control.
- Endocannabinoids may facilitate the encoding of stress coping into resilience via vmPFC circuits.