Coping with the multifaceted and multifunctional role of cortisol in the brain

Abstract Glucocorticoid hormones cortisol and corticosterone (collectively called CORT), secreted as the end products of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis, coordinate body and brain function over the circadian cycle and during adaptation to stress. For this purpose, the hormones bind to the mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) with the highest expression in the hippocampus/lateral septum neurons and a 10-fold lower affinity to the widely distributed glucocorticoid receptors (GR). MR and GR mediate opposing rapid non-genomic actions of CORT on neuronal excitability. MR and GR