It is maladaptive and provides only short-term resilience to stress (Sherrer,

2011). Coping style varies between individuals and situations and influences how the neuroendocrine and neuroimmunological systems are activated in response to stress (Zozulya et al., 2008). It also plays a central role in determining whether stress-related disorders develop or not. For example, the use of passive coping is often a characteristic of MDD and Selleckchem FG-4592 PTSD patients (Taylor and Stanton, 2007). The biological basis of stress response and coping strategies is not clearly defined, and its understanding is essential for a better comprehension of the etiology of these disorders. Animal models have been Lumacaftor manufacturer instrumental in this respect and, like humans, animals use coping strategies when faced to stress. Thus, rodents can

express both active coping, manifested by defensive/aggressive behaviors, fight and exploratory activity, and passive coping, manifested by submission, freezing, and immobility. These behaviors can be reliably measured as reflecting stress responses and can be used as models of stress in humans. This review outlines some of the mechanisms underlying stress resilience and vulnerability and describes current knowledge about the way these mechanisms are established at a behavioral, cellular, and molecular level. As the general topic of stress vulnerability and resilience is quite expansive, we have chosen to focus on select themes. As such, although the influence of early life stress on developmental processes is of interest, in this review, we particularly emphasize findings that highlight some

of the consequences of stress on adult plasticity and behavior, particularly those which may provide converging causal mechanistic insights, with the aim of limiting the broad scope of this topic to manageable number of themes. We first describe animal models used to study the mechanisms of stress resilience and vulnerability and delineate their major characteristics. We then discuss causal and mechanistic findings involving signaling pathways and connectivity in specific neural structures and molecular components and also reflect on findings implicating out epigenetic mechanisms and adult neurogenesis in these processes. We then conclude with future perspectives and a general discussion of the utility of these findings in driving medical research. Behavioral studies in rodents have demonstrated that environmental manipulations at different stages of life can have profound and lasting consequences on stress vulnerability and resilience. Here, we describe some of the major manipulations and paradigms developed in animals during development or adulthood, their primary features and use, and their relevance to human.