Wamsteeker Cusulin and colleagues report that stress-induced glucocorticoid release can trigger metaplasticity at GABAergic synapses on neuroendocrine neurons of the hypothalamus in rodents. Following stress, these GABAergic synapses gain the ability to undergo long-term depression in vitro, which involves amplification of mGluR signaling and retrograde suppression of synaptic transmission via persistent activation of presynaptic μ-opioid receptors. This form of plasticity may serve as a mechanism for behavioral stress adaptation.
- Jaclyn I Wamsteeker Cusulin
- Tamás Füzesi
- Jaideep S Bains
