Stress, depression and the hippocampus

Stress exposure is an important factor in the development of depressive disorders. Although the mechanisms of this relationship are largely unknown, several pieces of evidence point to an involvement of the hippocampal formation: 1. stressful stimuli cause remodeling of hipocampal pyramidal cells and inhibit neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. Antidepressive drugs attenuate these effects, probably by increasing the expression of neurotrophic factors; 2. facilitation of serotonergic neurotransmission in the hippocampus attenuates behavioral consequences of stress and produce antidepressive-like effects in several animal models; 3. antagonism of glutamate, the main excitatory neurotransmitter of the hippocampus, also induce antidepressive-like effects; 4. increased hippocampal activity has been described in genetically selected rats that are more sensitive to depression models. Similar result was found in depressive patients that fail to respond to antidepressant drugs; 5. together with the amygdala, the hippocampus plays a key role on consolidation and evocation of aversive memories. The challenge for the future will be to integrate the results from these different fields (clinical, electrophysiological, pharmacological and molecular) in an unifying theory about the role of the hippocampus on mood regulation, depressive disorder and antidepressant effects.