1/ Question for the stress gurus: precisely how fast after stress can corticosteroids trigger effects in the brain? I know the seminal work by Droste: https://academic.oup.com/endo/article/149/7/3244/2454894
@z_baram @carmensandi10 @Binder_Lab @jgtasker @Herman_lab @MathiasVSchmidt @quervain_de @ErnoHermans

2/ To me this looks like a noticeable increase in brain free corticosterone 10-15min after start of swim stress, possibly faster 5-10min after novelty "stress". Does this mean around 10min is the fastest that (membrane) MR/GR can trigger any immediate cellular effects?

3/ Further, CORT levels peak only 30-50min after onset of novelty/swim, as brain CORT levels trail plasma levels by 20 minutes. Will the initial low rise even be sufficient to trigger cellular effects? If not, could cellular effects of CORT require even more time than 10min?

4/ In support of this timeline, I found an old study that seems futuristic for 1971! Pfaff et al showed that CORT injection in rats suppressed hippocampal single-unit activity (in awake rats!) within 10-40minutes, effects that lasted for at least 2 hrs. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/172/3981/394.abstract

5/ And as I keep reading, I find more curious results. CORT injection i.p. seems to suppress male sexual behavior within 8 minutes...
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/252/5014/1848