Events Calendar

Psychological and Brain Sciences Departmental Colloquium

Jason Radley, Associate Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The University of Iowa

"Prefrontal circuit activation of distinct coping responses differentially alters the neuroendocrine consequences of stress in rodents"

Our laboratory seeks to identify the prefrontal circuits that account for the organization of stress response features (behavioral, neuroendocrine, autonomic) for guiding active and passive coping responses. In this presentation, I will summarize work showing that separate pathways from the medial prefrontal cortex to the periaqueductal gray differentially modulate passive and active coping in response to aversive stimuli in rats. First, evidence will be presented for parallel prefrontal cortical–periaqueductal gray pathways that independently support either the suppression of passive, or promotion of active coping behavior. Next, I will highlight exciting new data showing that the induction of an “active coping” neural circuit produces buffering neuroendocrine consequences of stress. Finally, I will discuss how alterations in these circuits may lead to or ameliorate chronic stress-related dysfunction of multiple systems.