Social stress in adolescent rats: adult behavioral and neurobiological consequences

PhD ceremony: Mr. J. Vidal Mollon, 14.30 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertation: Social stress in adolescent rats: adult behavioral and neurobiological consequences

Promotor(s): prof. J.M. Koolhaas

Faculty: Mathematics and Natural Sciences

The main aim of the thesis of Jose Vidal Mollon is to study the adult behavioral consequences of suffering from victimization during adolescence in rats and to establish an animal model to study which factors contribute to resistance and vulnerability to suffer from social stress. Adolescence has been described as an important period to acquire social competences required for adult life. It has been suggested that social stress experiences during adolescence could affect the development of the brain. These changes in the brain may be related with the development of certain psychopathologies such as depression and social anxiety. But some of the victims of social stress are resistant to the consequences of this type of stressors.