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Controlling stress: how the brain protects itself from depression

Having control over a stressful situation can reduce its negative physiological and cognitive consequences. In this issue, a new study in rats suggests that descending inputs from the prefrontal cortex to the serotonergic midbrain signal the controllability of stress.

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Figure 1: Sensing control over stress.

Debbie Maizels

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Robbins, T. Controlling stress: how the brain protects itself from depression. Nat Neurosci 8, 261–262 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0305-261

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