How age, sex and genotype shape the stress response

Abstract

Exposure to chronic stress is a leading pre-disposing factor for several neuropsychiatric disorders as it often leads to maladaptive responses. The response to stressful events is heterogeneous, underpinning a wide spectrum of distinct changes amongst stress-exposed individuals'. Several factors can underlie a different perception to stressors and the setting of distinct coping strategies that will lead to individual differences on the susceptibility/resistance to stress. Beyond the factors related to the stressor itself, such as intensity, duration or predictability, there are factors intrinsic to the individuals that are relevant to shape the stress response, such as age, sex and genetics. In this review, we examine the contribution of such intrinsic factors to the modulation of the stress response based on experimental rodent models of response to stress and discuss to what extent that knowledge can be potentially translated to humans.