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Early Postnatal Stress and the Serotonergic System in the Brain

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Molecular Imaging for Integrated Medical Therapy and Drug Development

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Abstract

Recent studies have focused on the serotonergic mechanism, mediated via serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) receptors, underlying the regulation of emotional stress during the developmental period. The present study was undertaken to elucidate whether early postnatal stress affects rat brain development and influences serotonergic function in the midbrain raphe nuclei in the adult, focusing on the response to unconditioned fear stress assessed with the elevated plus maze test. Rats that received aversive foot shock (FS) stimuli in the third week of the postnatal period (3wFS), but not those that received the aversive FS stimuli in the second week (2wFS), spent an increased percentage of time on the open arms of the elevated plus maze in the postadolescent period (age. 10–12 weeks). The number of 5-HT neurons in the raphe nuclei was significantly decreased by FS administered when animals were 3 weeks old. Fluvoxamine treatment (10 mg/kg, p.o.) given for 14 days immediately after the aversive stress normalized the behavioral patterns in the elevated plus maze test. These findings suggest that exposure to aversive stress during the early postnatal period may affect serotonergic development, and thereby may affect emotional responses to fear stimuli in the post-adolescent period.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuropharmacology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15 West 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan

    Kohtarou Konno & Mitsuhiro Yoshioka

Authors
  1. Kohtarou Konno
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  2. Mitsuhiro Yoshioka
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Kita 15 Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan

    Nagara Tamaki M.D., Ph.D.

  2. Department of Tracer Kinetics and Bioanalysis, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Kita 15 Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan

    Yuji Kuge Ph.D.

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Konno, K., Yoshioka, M. (2010). Early Postnatal Stress and the Serotonergic System in the Brain. In: Tamaki, N., Kuge, Y. (eds) Molecular Imaging for Integrated Medical Therapy and Drug Development. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-98074-2_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-98074-2_21

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-98073-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-98074-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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