Interactions Between Experience, Genotype and Sex in the Development of Individual Coping Strategies

Rossella Ventura; Simona Cabib; Lucy Babicola; Diego Andolina; Matteo Di Segni; Cristina Orsini

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2021.785739

Interactions Between Experience, Genotype and Sex in the Development of Individual Coping Strategies

Front Behav Neurosci. 2021 Dec 20:15:785739. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.785739. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Rossella Ventura^{1

2}, Simona Cabib^{1

2}, Lucy Babicola^{1

2}, Diego Andolina^{1

2}, Matteo Di Segni², Cristina Orsini¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology and Centre for Research in Neurobiology D. Bovet, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
² Department of Experimental Neurosciences, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy.

Abstract

Coping strategies, the first line of defense against adversities, develop through experience. There is consistent evidence that both genotype and sex contribute to the development of dysfunctional coping, leading to maladaptive outcomes of adverse experiences or to adaptive coping that fosters rapid recovery even from severe stress. However, how these factors interact to influence the development of individual coping strategies is just starting to be investigated. In the following review, we will consider evidence that experience, sex, and genotype influence the brain circuits and neurobiological processes involved in coping with adversities and discuss recent results pointing to the specific effects of the interaction between early experiences, genotype, and stress in the development of functional and dysfunctional coping styles.

Keywords: dopamine; early stress; gene expression; helplessness; medial prefrontal cortex; norepinephrine; reward; sex differences.