Objective : It is known that hippocampal synapses display short-term synaptic plasticity, i.e. an activity-dependent change in neurotransmitter release during repeated activation. Here we tested whether such synaptic plasticity could be correlated with the behavioral readouts in the chronic mild stress model of depression in rats. Methods: Adult male rats were exposed to an eight week long chronic mild stress protocol leading to an anhedonic-like behavior, as measured weekly by sucrose intake. 350 mm thick ventral horizontal slices were acutely prepared for further electrophysiological recordings. Spontaneous or evoked inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) were recorded in dentate gyrus granule cells in the presence of 3 mM kynurenic acid. Results: In control rats, evoked GABAergic IPSCs recorded in granule cells showed a paired-pulse ratio (PPR) of 0.76 ± 0.054 (n = 16 cells / 4 rats). In contrast, in stress-sensitive rats displaying anhedonic-like behavior, the evoked GABAergic IPSCs showed a PPR of 1.2 ± 0.14 (n = 14 cells / 4 rats). Finally, stress-resilient rats showed a paired-pulse ratio which was not significantly different from control rats reaching (PPR of 0.83 ± 0.051, n = 11 cells / 4 rats). In agreement with the observed changes being related to presynaptic mechanisms, there were no changes in postsynaptic GABA_A receptor function among the three groups, as measured by the frequency and decay kinetics of the miniature IPSCs. Conclusion: We propose that stress-sensitivity in rats is associated with presynaptic changes, which may be due to alterations in the presynaptic release machinery, including its complex protein and vesicle composition. Notably, this is the first demonstration of a physiological fingerprint clearly distinguishing stress-sensitive from stress-resilient rats, which indicates that stress-sensitivity is linked to a distinct hippocampal synaptopathy.