Stress may add bite to appetite in women: a laboratory study of stress-induced cortisol and eating behavior

https://njc.rockefeller.edu/PDF_BN08/Topic%204JoelsTiCSfinal.pdf

Learning under stress: how does it work?

Winter is energetically demanding Physiological and behavioral adaptations have evolved among nontropical animals to cope with winter because thermoregulatory demands increase when food availability decreases Seasonal breeding is central within the suite of winter adaptations among small animals Presumably, reproductive inhibition during winter conserves energy at a time when the adds of producing viable young are low In addition to the well-studied seasonal cycles of mating and birth, there are also significant seasonal cycles of illness and death among many populations of mammals and birds in the field Challenging winter conditions, such as low ambient temperatures and decreased food availability, can directly induce death via hypothermia, starvation or shock In some cases, survival in demanding winter conditions puts individuals under great physiological stress, defined here as an adaptive process that results in elevated blood levels of glucocorticoids The stress of coping with energetically demanding conditions can also indirectly cause illness and death by compromising immune function Presumably, the increased blood concentrations of adrenocortical steroids in response to winter stressors compromise immune function and accelerate catabolic mechanisms in the field, although the physiological effects of elevated glucocorticoids induced by artificial stressors have been investigated primarily in the laboratory However, recurrent environmental stressors could reduce survival if they evoke persistent glucocorticoid secretion The working hypothesis of this article is that mechanisms have evolved in some animals to combat seasonal stress-induced immunocompromise as a temporal adaptation to promote survival Furthermore, we hypothesize that mechanisms have evolved that allow individuals to anticipate periods of immunologically challenging conditions, and to cope with these seasonal health-threatening conditions The primary environmental cue that permits physiological anticipation of season is the daily photoperiod; however, other environmental factors may interact with photoperiod to affect immune function and disease processes The evidence for seasonal fluctuations in lymphatic organ size, structure, immune function, and disease processes, and their possible interactions with recurrent environmental stressors, is reviewed Seasonal peaks of lymphatic organ size and structure generally occur in late autumn or early winter and seasonal minima are observed prior to the onset of breeding Although many of the field data suggest that immune function and disease processes are also enhanced during the winter, the opposite seasonal pattern is also observed in some studies We propose that compromised immune function may be observed in some populations during particularly harsh winters when stressors override the enhancement of immune function evoked by short day lengths Because so many factors covary in field studies, assessment of our proposal that photoperiod mediates seasonal changes in immune function requires laboratory studies in which only photoperiod is varied A review of the effects of photoperiod on immune function in laboratory studies reveals that exposure to short day lengths enhances immune function in every species examined Short day exposure in small mammals causes reproductive inhibition and concomitant reduction in plasma levels of prolactin and steroid hormones, as well as alterations in the temporal pattern of pineal melatonin secretion These hormones affect immune function, and influence the development of opportunistic diseases, including cancer: however, it appears that either prolactin or melatonin secretion is responsible for mediating the effects of photoperiod on immune function Taken together, day length appears to affect immune function in many species, including animals that typically do not exhibit reproductive responsiveness to day length

Seasonal changes in immune function.

Stress-related adrenal steroid hormones modulate brain and cognitive function. Electrophysiological studies, including primed burst potentiation and long-term potentiation, have indicated concentration-dependent inverted U-shape effects of corticosterone in hippocampal function and plasticity. Here, we explored the role of corticosterone in the consolidation and long-term retrieval of spatial learning in the Morris water maze task in rats. We postulated that corticosterone actions might be experience-dependent with regard to stimulus intensity, such as differential water temperatures. Indeed, rats trained at 19 degrees C showed a quicker rate of acquisition and better long-term retention than rats trained at 25 degrees C water. In addition, post-training corticosterone levels, on the first training day, were significantly higher in rats in the 19 degrees C group than in the 25 degrees C group. Performance of rats trained at 25 degrees C, but not at 19 degrees C, water was improved by injecting them i.p. with corticosterone immediately after each training session. Thus, the effect of exogenously administered corticosterone appears to be experience-dependent, with the experience-induced corticosterone concentrations as a critical factor determining the cognitive consequences of steroid treatment. Therefore, this work indicates a facilitating corticosterone action, during the post-training period, on the neural mechanisms determining the strength of information storage under acute, physiological conditions.

Lisá L

Papers

Effects of glucocorticoids