Chronic Stress Decreases Cerebrovascular Responses During Rat Hindlimb Electrical Stimulation
Abstract
Repeated stress is one of the major risk factors for cerebrovascular disease, including stroke, and vascular dementia. However, the functional alterations in the cerebral hemodynamic response induced by chronic stress have not been clarified. Here, we investigated the in vivo cerebral hemodynamic changes and accompanying cellular and molecular changes in chronically stressed rats. After 3 weeks of restraint stress, the elicitation of stress was verified by behavioral despair in the forced swimming test and by physical indicators of stress. The evoked changes in the cerebral blood volume and pial artery responses following hindpaw electrical stimulation were measured using optical intrinsic signal imaging. We observed that, compared to the control group, animals under chronic restraint stress exhibited a decreased hemodynamic response, with a smaller pial arterial dilation in the somatosensory cortex during hindpaw electrical stimulation. The effect of chronic restraint stress on vasomodulator enzymes, including neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and heme oxygenase-2 (HO-2), was assessed in the somatosensory cortex. Chronic restraint stress downregulated nNOS and HO-2 compared to the control group. In addition, we examined th...Continue Reading
References
The smallest stroke: occlusion of one penetrating vessel leads to infarction and a cognitive deficit
Citations
Methods Mentioned
Software Mentioned
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle, that can lead to muscular or electrical dysfunction of the heart. It is often an irreversible disease that is associated with a poor prognosis. There are different causes and classifications of cardiomyopathies. Here are the latest discoveries pertaining to this disease.
Barrel cortex
Here is the latest research on barrel cortex, a region of somatosensory and motor corticies in the brain, which are used by animals that rely on whiskers for world exploration.
Aneurysm
Aneurysms are outward distensions or bulges that occurs in a weakened wall of blood vessels. Discover the latest research on aneurysms here.