In stressful situations the brain communicates with the adrenal glands stimulating them to release adrenaline and cortisol. This stress responsive neuroendocrine system plays important adaptive roles by regulating energy metabolism, attention, and learning and memory. However, without a recovery period chronic uncontrolled stress such as psychosocial stress can damage neural circuits in the brain and contribute to a range of mental disorders as well as Alzheimer’s disease. In this episode I have the pleasure of talking with two pioneers in the field of stress research – Professors Marian Joëls and Ron de Kloet. Their work which spans five decades has shown how two different cortisol receptors determine how the brain responds to physiological and pathological stress. They have revealed how a “cortisol switch” determines brain vulnerability or resilience.

Links

Marian Joëls’ webpage: https://www.rug.nl/staff/m.joels/cv

Ron de Kloet publications on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Eao7yZIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

The “Cortisol Switch”

file:///Users/markmattson/Downloads/s41380-022-01934-8.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091302218300116?via%3Dihub