Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

The hippocampus is necessary for enhancements and impairments of learning following stress

Abstract

The hippocampus is often considered to be an important site for stress and learning interactions; however, it has never been demonstrated whether these effects require the hippocampus. In the current study, hippocampal lesions prevented both enhancements of learning after stress in male rats and impairments of learning after stress in female rats without disrupting learning itself in either sex. Thus, the hippocampus is necessary for modifying learning in males and females after acute stressful experience.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Rats in the experimental group were given excitotoxic lesions of the complete hippocampus.
Figure 2: Hippocampal lesions prevent the modulation of learning by stress, without disrupting learning itself or corticosterone release.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. McEwen, B.S. & Sapolsky, R.M. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 5, 205–216 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Weiss, C., Sametsky, E., Sasse, A., Spiess, J. & Disterhoft, J.F. Learn. Mem. 12, 138–143 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Roozendaal, B., Griffith, Q.K., Buranday, J., de Quervain, D.J. & McGaugh, J.L. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 1328–1333 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Solomon, P.R., Vander Schaaf, E.R., Thompson, R.F. & Weisz, D.J. Behav. Neurosci. 100, 729–744 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Shors, T.J., Weiss, C. & Thompson, R.F. Science 257, 537–539 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Wood, G.E. & Shors, T.J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95, 4066–4071 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Sapolsky, R.M., Krey, L.C. & McEwen, B.S. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81, 6174–6177 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Tuvnes, F.A., Steffenach, H.A., Murison, R., Moser, M.B. & Moser, E.I. J. Neurosci. 23, 4345–4354 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Beylin, A.V. & Shors, T.J. Horm. Behav. 43, 124–131 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Shors, T.J. Neurobiol. Learn. Mem. 75, 10–29 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Leuner, B., Mendolia-Loffredo, S. & Shors, T.J. Biol. Psychiatry 56, 964–970 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Shors, T.J., Chua, C. & Falduto, J. J. Neurosci. 21, 6292–6297 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Shors, T.J. & Mathew, P.R. Learn. Mem. 5, 220–230 (1998).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Bangasser, D.A., Santollo, J. & Shors, T.J. Behav. Neurosci. 119, 1459–1466 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Paxinos, G. & Watson, C. The Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates 3rd edn. (Academic Press, Orlando, Florida, USA, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to D.E. Waxler for comments on the manuscript and to D. Vargas and A. Tang for technical support. This work was supported by US National Institute of Mental Health (59970) and National Science Foundation (IOB-0444364) grants to T.J.S. and a National Institute of Mental Health (AG19957-06) grant to D.A.B.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tracey J Shors.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Methods and Results (PDF 104 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bangasser, D., Shors, T. The hippocampus is necessary for enhancements and impairments of learning following stress. Nat Neurosci 10, 1401–1403 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1973

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1973

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing