Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Mar 23.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2009 Jun;10(6):459–466. doi: 10.1038/nrn2632

Figure 2. ‘Hot spots’ of receptors for key stress mediators.

Figure 2

The β1-adrenoceptors for noradrenaline (B1Rs), CRH receptor 1 (CRHR1), CRHR2 and the mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid receptors (MRs and GRs, respectively) cluster in ‘hot spots’ in the brain. These hot spots include the prefrontal cortex, specific amygdala nuclei, the hippocampus (CA1, CA3 and the dentate gyrus (DG)), the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), the dorsal raphe nuclei (DR) and the locus coeruleus (LC). In these areas, receptors for at least two classes of mediators are highly expressed. The hot spots are strategic hubs that connect networks involved in diverse aspects of the brain's stress response, including learning and memory, decision making and hormonal, autonomic and emotional responses. BLA, basolateral amygdala; BnST, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; CeA, central amygdala; CRH, corticotropin-releasing hormone; lat. septum, lateral septum; MA, medial amygdala; NTS, nucleus tractus solitarii. Data from REFS 48,74–78.