Noise stress impairs prefrontal cortical cognitive function in monkeys: evidence for a hyperdopaminergic mechanism.

These results indicate that stress impairs PFC cognitive function through a hyperdopaminergic mechanism. Stress may take the PFC "off-line" to allow more habitual responses mediated by posterior cortical and subcortical structures to regulate behavior. This mechanism may have survival value, but may often be maladaptive in human society, contributing to the vulnerability of the PFC in many neuropsychiatric disorders.