Differential susceptibility of male and female amygdala to corticosterone and alcohol

Alcohol use disorders are pervasive, chronically relapsing conditions, and stress is a primary trigger of relapse. Females develop stress-related disorders more frequently than males and may thus be uniquely sensitive to stress-induced alcohol consumption. The neural underpinnings of sexually dimorphic stress sensitivity and its impact on alcohol use are currently incompletely understood. We hypothesized that stress or the stress-induced hormone corticosterone would generate greater changes in females than males, which could promote heightened alcohol relapse-like behavior.

Source: Alcohol - May 1, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Marian L. Logrip, Sean C. Gainey, Christopher Oleata, Marisa Roberto Source Type: research