Stress and the brain : role of the medial prefrontal cortex in regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis

TL;DRAbstract

Stress, while an essential response in the short term, can be very damaging to health when experienced chronically. Stress has been linked to the development or exacerbation of many disorders in humans, including coronary heart disease, depression, type n diabetes, even colds and 'flu. The conventional approach to investigating the problem of an overactive stress response and potential treatments is to examine pathways that drive responses to stress. An alternative way of addressing this problem, however, is to develop treatments that enhance the brain's own inhibitory stress-protective mechanisms.  The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been strongly implicated in control of a variety of behavioural, autonomic and endocrine responses to stress. In particular, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a key element of the endocrine stress response, is suppressed by activation of the mPFC. Importantly, anatomical studies have failed to demonstrate direct projections from the mPFC

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