Evidence for sex-specific shifting of neural processes underlying learning and memory following stress

Abstract

Recent human research has been focused upon determining whether there is evidence that stress responses cause qualitative changes in neural activity such that people change their learning strategies from a spatial/contextual memory process through the hippocampus to a procedural stimulus-response process through the caudate nucleus. Moreover, interest has shifted to determining whether males and females exhibit the same type of stress-induced change in neural processing of associations. Presented is a select review of 2 different animal models that have examined how acute or chronic stressors change learning in a sex-specific manner. This is followed by a brief review of recent human studies documenting how learning and memory functions change following stressor exposure. In both cases, it is clear that ovarian hormones have a significant influence on how stress affects learning processes in females. We then examine the evidence for a role of acetylcholine, dopamine, norepinephrine, or serotonin in modulating this shifting of processing and how that may differ across sex. Conclusions drawn suggest that there may be evidence for sex-specific changes in amygdala and hippocampus neuromodulation; however, the behavioral data are still not conclusive as to whether this represents a common or sex-specific shift in how males and females process associations after stressor exposure.