Mineralocorticoid receptors ensure flexible engagement of
learning strategies
Whenever we have to acquire new knowledge under stress, the
brain deploys unconscious rather than conscious learning processes.
Neuroscientists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have discovered that this switch
from conscious to unconscious learning systems is triggered by the intact
function of mineralocorticoid receptors. These receptors are activated by
hormones released in response to stress by the adrenal cortex. The team of PD
Dr Lars Schwabe from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, together with colleagues
from the neurology department at the university clinic Bergmannsheil, reports
in the journal “Biological Psychiatry”.