PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Romy Wichmann
AU  - Caitlin M. Vander Weele
AU  - Ariella S. Yosafat
AU  - Evelien H.S. Schut
AU  - Jeroen P. H. Verharen
AU  - Suganya Sridharma
AU  - Cody A. Siciliano
AU  - Ehsan M. Izadmehr
AU  - Kathryn M. Farris
AU  - Craig P. Wildes
AU  - Eyal Y. Kimchi
AU  - Kay M. Tye
TI  - Acute stress induces long-lasting alterations in the dopaminergic system of female mice
AID  - 10.1101/168492
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 168492
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/27/168492.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/27/168492.full
AB  - Stress is a risk factor for many neuropsychiatric disorders, and the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) pathway is a crucial node of vulnerability. Despite the high prevalence of stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders in women, preclinical knowledge on the impact of stress on neural circuitry has predominantly been acquired in males. Here, we examine how a non-social stressor impacts the effect of DA neurotransmission on social and reward-related behaviors in female mice. Acute stress exposure attenuated the anti-social effects of photoinhibiting ventral tegmental area (VTA) DA neurons and transformed photoactivation of these cells into an anti-social signal. Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) revealed an enhancement in optogenetically-induced DA release after stress. 60 days after stress, mice showed distinct patterns of intra-cranial self-stimulation of VTA DA neurons. Our results reveal the impact stress exerts on females and show that neural and behavioral changes induced by acute stress exposure are still present months later.