Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Kathleen Morrison

Committee Co-Chair

Michael Perone

Committee Member

Nicholas Turiano

Abstract

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is an area of associated with cognitive flexibility, decision making, and value processing. The most common neuropsychiatric disorders globally, including generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and substance abuse disorders, have been associated with dysfunction in the PFC. One of the environmental factors that may lead to increased risk for developing these disorders is exposure to stressful or traumatic situations during key developmental periods, such as adolescence. Human studies found that individuals who were faced with early adverse events but had some form of social interaction or support during that time, had a lower risk for developing neuropsychiatric disorders later in adulthood. This finding was replicated in rodent studies, where evidence suggests that social interaction (SI) during stressful periods may lead to ameliorative effects on PFC-related behavior. Understanding how SI during stress in adolescence can promote behavioral resilience is an understudied area of research. We hypothesized that mice receiving SI would be protected from the impact of pubertal stress on PFC-related behavior in a sex dependent manner. To test this, mice underwent chronic variable stress (CVS) for a total of two weeks starting at post-natal day 21, with one group receiving SI in-between daily stressors. Then, mice were placed into either the adulthood or adolescence age cohort where they performed a battery of PFC-related behavioral tests during those respective periods. In conclusion, we extended our knowledge on how chronic pubertal stress affects PFC-related cognition and behavior throughout two distinct developmental periods. Specifically, that there are sex-dependent effects following chronic pubertal stress which may be related to the age of the individual, as we found age related differences in anxiety-like behavior in adulthood but no sex related differences during adolescence.


Embargo Reason

Publication Pending

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