Central Amygdala Projections to Lateral Hypothalamus Mediate Avoidance Behavior in Rats.
J Neurosci
; 41(1): 61-72, 2021 01 06.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33188067
ABSTRACT
Persistent avoidance of stress-related stimuli following acute stress exposure predicts negative outcomes such as substance abuse and traumatic stress disorders. Previous work using a rat model showed that the central amygdala (CeA) plays an important role in avoidance of a predator odor stress-paired context. Here, we show that CeA projections to the lateral hypothalamus (LH) are preferentially activated in male rats that show avoidance of a predator odor-paired context (termed Avoider rats), that chemogenetic inhibition of CeA-LH projections attenuates avoidance in male Avoider rats, that chemogenetic stimulation of the CeA-LH circuit produces conditioned place avoidance (CPA) in otherwise naive male rats, and that avoidance behavior is associated with intrinsic properties of LH-projecting CeA cells. Collectively, these data show that CeA-LH projections are important for persistent avoidance of stress-related stimuli following acute stress exposure.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This study in rats shows that a specific circuit in the brain [i.e., neurons that project from the central amygdala (CeA) to the lateral hypothalamus (LH)] mediates avoidance of stress-associated stimuli. In addition, this study shows that intrinsic physiological properties of cells in this brain circuit are associated with avoidance of stress-associated stimuli. Further characterization of the CeA-LH circuit may improve our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying specific aspects of stress-related disorders in humans.
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Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Aprendizagem da Esquiva
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Núcleo Central da Amígdala
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Região Hipotalâmica Lateral
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Vias Neurais
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Neurosci
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article