The hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC) are connected in a reciprocal manner: whereas the hippocampus projects directly to the PFC, a polysynaptic pathway that passes through the nucleus reuniens (RE) of the thalamus relays inputs from the PFC to the hippocampus. The present study demonstrates that lesioning and/or inactivation of the RE reduces coherence in the PFC-hippocampal pathway, provokes an antidepressant-like behavioral response in the forced swim test and prevents, but does not ameliorate, anhedonia in the chronic mild stress (CMS) model of depression. Additionally, RE lesioning before CMS abrogates the well-known neuromorphological and endocrine correlates of CMS. In summary, this work highlights the importance of the reciprocal connectivity between the hippocampus and PFC in the establishment of stress-induced brain pathology and suggests a role for the RE in promoting resilience to depressive illness.

中文翻译：

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核重合：压力和抑郁神经回路中的关键节点。

海马和前额叶皮层（PFC）相互连接：而海马直接投射到PFC，穿过丘脑的核仁（RE）的多突触途径将输入从PFC传递到海马。本研究证明RE的损伤和/或失活会降低PFC-海马途径的连贯性，在强迫游泳试验中引起抗抑郁样行为反应，并预防但不会缓解慢性轻度应激反应（CMS）中的快感缺乏症）抑郁症模型。此外，CMS之前的RE病变消除了CMS的众所周知的神经形态和内分泌相关性。总之，