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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2011 Feb 19;96(1):79–88. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2011.02.008

Figure 2. A schematic of the sequence of cells and molecules activated during stress, and their effects on the brain.

Figure 2

Stress signals release corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) in amygdala and hypothalamus (see text). Activation of CRH receptors in the pituitary gland as a result of hypothalamic CRH release initiates the peripheral response to stress, including ACTH and glucocorticoid secretion. Glucocorticoids penetrate the blood brain barrier and act on wide-spread brain receptors, including in hippocampus. Activation of CRH receptors in hippocampus by physiological levels of CRH primes LTP. However, activation of the receptors by CRH levels found during severe stress provokes rapid loss of dendritic spines and contributes to defects in spatial memory.