Secretion of glucocorticoid hormones during stress produces an array of physiological changes that are adaptive and beneficial in the short term. In the face of repeated stress exposure, however, habituation of the glucocorticoid response is essential as prolonged glucocorticoid secretion can produce deleterious effects on metabolic, immune, cardiovascular, and neurobiological function. Endocan...

Intercellular signaling dynamics critically influence the functional roles that the signals can play. Small lipids are synthesized and released from neurons, acting as intercellular signals in regulating neurotransmitter release, modulating ion channels on target cells, and modifying synaptic plasticity. The repertoire of biological effects of lipids such as endocannabinoids (eCBs) is rapidly e...

Extended training can induce a shift in behavioral control from goal-directed actions, which are governed by action-outcome contingencies and sensitive to changes in the expected value of the outcome, to habits which are less dependent on action-outcome relations and insensitive to changes in outcome value. Previous studies in rats have shown that interval schedules of reinforcement favor habit...

Endocannabinoids exert an important neuromodulatory role via presynaptic cannabinoid CB1 receptors and may also participate in the control of neural cell death and survival. The function of the endocannabinoid system has been extensively studied in differentiated neurons, but its potential role in neural progenitor cells remains to be elucidated. Here we show that the CB1 receptor and the endoc...

The type-1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1R) was initially identified as the neuronal target of Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major psychoactive substance of marijuana. This receptor is one of the most abundant G-protein-coupled receptors in the adult brain, the target of endocannabinoid ligands and a well-characterized retrograde synaptic regulator. However, CB1Rs are also highly and often tr...

Endocannabinoids mediate retrograde signaling and modulate synaptic transmission in various regions of the CNS. Depolarization-induced elevation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration causes endocannabinoid-mediated suppression of excitatory/inhibitory synaptic transmission. Activation of G(q/11)-coupled receptors including group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) also causes endocannabin...