Effects of Administration of an Agonist and an Antagonist of GABAA Receptors into the Amygdala in Rabbits on the Respiratory and Cardiac Components of Conditioned Reflex Fear

Effects of Administration of an Agonist and an Antagonist of GABAA Receptors into the Basolateral Nucleus of the Amygdala on the Expression and Extinction of Fear in Rats with Different Freezing Durations

“…These results are consistent with extensive published data on showing decreases in the expression of conditioned refl ex fear in response to administration of muscimol into the amygdala, apparent as freezing [Sierra-Mercado et al, 2011;Laurent and Westbrook, 2008], as an increased startle reaction in response to sound [Van Nobelen and Kokkinidis, 2006], or as changes in respiratory and heart rates [Pavlova and Rysakova, 2013]. Administration of bicuculline into the amygdala before Test 2 in our experiments also decreased the proportion of time spent in freezing in response to both the conditioned stimulus and the context.…”

“…We have previously obtained data on the unequal infl uences of administration of GABA A receptor agonists and antagonists into the basolateral amygdala on behavior and autonomic expression of anxiety and fear in active and passive rabbits, identifi ed on the basis of movement and exploratory activity in the open fi eld and dark-light box [Rysakova and Pavlova, 2012;Pavlova and Rysakova, 2013]. Published data both support the relationship between the GABAergic system of the amygdala and differences in the manifestations of anxiety and fear [Kash et al, 1999;Lehner et al, 2010;Tasan et al, 2011] and refute it [Sienkiewicz-Jarosz et al, 2003].…”

“…Conditioned refl ex fear can be assessed quantitatively in terms of the freezing duration or in terms of changes in a number of autonomic measures (heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, etc.). Acquisition of conditioned refl ex fear is linked with signifi cant individual-typological differences between animals, related to the rates of its acquisition, extinction, and expression [Camp et al, 2012;Gaburro et al, 2011;Muigg et al, 2008;Lehner et al, 2010;Pavlova and Rysakova, 2013]. A number of studies have demonstrated a link between measures of conditioned refl ex fear and anxiety, exploratory and motor activity, and various other emotional characteristics in animals [Dubrovina and Tomilenko, 2005;Gaburro et al, 2011;Walker et al, 2008;Pavlova and Rysakova, 2008].…”