Effects of social subordination and estradiol on resting-state amygdala functional connectivity in adult female rhesus monkeys

• Published in: Journal of neuroendocrinology Vol. 32; no. 2; p. e12822
• Main Authors: Reding, Katherine M., Grayson, David S., Miranda-Dominguez, Oscar, Ray, Siddarth, Wilson, Mark E., Toufexis, Donna, Fair, Damien A., Sanchez, Mar M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.02.2020
• ISSN: 0953-8194; 1365-2826
• DOI: 10.1111/jne.12822

Preclinical studies demonstrate that chronic stress modulates the effects of oestradiol (E2) on behavior through the modification of amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neuronal structure. Clinical studies suggest that alterations in amygdala functional connectivity (FC) with the mPFC may be associated with stress-related phenotypes, including mood and anxiety disorders. Thus, identifying the effects of stress and E2 on amygdala-mPFC circuits is critical to understanding the neurobiology underpinning vulnerability to stress-related disorders in women. Here, we used a well-validated rhesus monkey model of chronic psychosocial stress (subordinate social rank) to examine effects of E2 on subordinate (SUB) -high stress- and dominant (DOM) -low stress- female resting-state amygdala FC with the mPFC and with the whole-brain. In the non-E2 treatment control condition SUB was associated with stronger left amygdala FC to subgenual cingulate (Brodmann area [BA] 25: BA25), a region implicated in several psychopathologies in people. In SUB females E2 treatment strengthened right amygdala-BA25 FC, induced a net positive amygdala-visual cortex FC that was positively associated with frequency of submissive behaviors, and weakened positive amygdala-para/hippocampus FC. Our findings show that subordinate social rank alters amygdala FC and E2’s impact on amygdala FC with BA25 and with regions involved in visual processing and memory encoding.