Coping with the experience of frustration throughout life: Sex- and age-specific effects of early life stress on the susceptibility to reward devaluation.

Early life stress may lead to lifelong impairments in psychophysiological functions, including emotional and reward systems. Unpredicted decrease in reward magnitude generates a negative emotional state (frustration) that may be involved with susceptibility to psychiatric disorders. We evaluated, in adolescents and adult rats of both sexes, whether maternal separation (MS) alters the ability to cope with an unexpected reduction of reward later in life.

Neurometabolic effects of sweetened solution intake during adolescence related to depressive-like phenotype in rats.

Objective: Exposure to artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, during childhood and adolescence has been increasing in recent years. However, the safe use of aspartame has been questioned owing to its potentially harmful effects on the developing brain. The aim of this study was to test whether the chronic consumption of aspartame during adolescence leads to a depressive-like phenotype and to investigate the possible mechanisms underlying these behavioral changes.