Mesencephalic central gray lesions and fear-motivated behavior in rats

Liebman, Jeffrey M.; Mayer, David J.; Liebeskind, John C.

doi:10.1016/0006-8993(70)90062-4

Cited by 214 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Previous studies have implicated the CG in the expression of conditioned fear behavior (Lyon, 1964;Halpem, 1968;Liebman et al, 1970). Of particular interest is the study by Liebman et al (1970).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of particular interest is the study by Liebman et al (1970). They found that electrolytic lesions of the ventral, but not dorsal, CG abolished conditioned fear reactions in the rat.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several explanations of why CG lesions produce deficits in tests of conditioned fear behavior are reviewed by Liebman et al (1970). Analgesia, they argue, is unlikely to account for the reduced signs of fear, since several studies show normal pain thresholds in CG-lesioned animals (Kelly and Glusman, 1968;Poirier et al, 1968).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Different projections of the central amygdaloid nucleus mediate autonomic and behavioral correlates of conditioned fear

et al. 1988

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The purpose of the present study was to determine whether lesions of areas projected to by the central amygdaloid nucleus (ACE) would disrupt the classical conditioning of autonomic and/or behavioral emotional responses. The areas studied included 3 projection targets of the ACE: the lateral hypothalamic area (LH), midbrain central gray (CG) region, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). Lesions were made either electrolytically or by microinjection of ibotenic acid, which destroys local neurons without interrupting fibers of passage. Two weeks later, the animals were classically conditioned by pairing an acoustic stimulus with footshock. The next day, conditioned changes in autonomic activity (increases in arterial pressure) and emotional behavior (“freezing,” or the arrest of somatomotor activity) evoked by the acoustic conditioned stimulus (CS) were measured during extinction trials. Electrolytic and ibotenic acid lesions of the LH interfered with the conditioned arterial pressure response, but did not affect conditioned freezing. Electrolytic lesions of the rostral CG disrupted conditioned freezing but not conditioned changes in arterial pressure. Ibotenic acid injected into the rostral CG reduced neither the arterial pressure nor the freezing response. Injection of ibotenic acid in the caudal CG, like electrolytic lesions of the rostral CG, disrupted the freezing, but not the arterial pressure response. Injection of ibotenic acid into the BNST had no effect on either response. These data demonstrate that neurons in the LH are involved in the autonomic, but not the behavioral, conditioned response pathway, whereas neurons in the caudal CG are involved in the behavioral, but not the autonomic, pathway. Different efferent projections of the central amygdala thus appear to mediate the behavioral and autonomic concomitants of conditioned fear.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of particular interest is the study by Liebman et al (1970). They found that electrolytic lesions of the ventral, but not dorsal, CG abolished conditioned fear reactions in the rat.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Different projections of the central amygdaloid nucleus mediate autonomic and behavioral correlates of conditioned fear

et al. 1988

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“…The PAG is a critical brain structure involved in fearrelated behaviors [46,5]. The anatomical organization of the PAG and the resultant expression of emotional behavioral correlates is complex [reviewed in 83].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The periaqueductal gray (PAG) is a critical brain structure involved in fear-related behaviors [46,6]. It has all the anatomical connectivities one would expect of a major emotion system integrator [7,15,27,61] and it exhibits functional changes as a result of emotional arousal [1,4,6,36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social defeat, a paradigm of depression in rats that elicits 22-kHz vocalizations, preferentially activates the cholinergic signaling pathway in the periaqueductal gray

Kroes¹,

Burgdorf²,

Otto³

et al. 2007

Behavioural Brain Research

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Gene expression profiles in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) of adult Long-Evans rats as a function of a stressful social defeat in inter-male fighting encounters were examined. This social subordination model mimics prototypical behavioral changes that parallel aspects of clinical depression, has been postulated to simulate early changes in the onset of depression in the losers, and has been successfully utilized for the evaluation of antidepressant activity. 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) have been shown to reflect negative emotional states akin to anxiety and depression. Social defeat is the most robust and reliable method of eliciting these calls. The PAG has been shown to be a key brain region for the generation of 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations, and 22-kHz USVs have been shown to be controlled by the mesolimbic cholinergic system. In this present study we examined gene expression changes in the PAG of social subordinate rats compared to dominant rats (that do not exhibit 22-kHz USVs). We found that social defeat significantly altered the genes associated with cholinergic synaptic transmission in the PAG. The most robust of these were the increased expression of the β2 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (CHRNB2) and the T-subunit of acetylcholinesterase (ACHE) in the subordinate animals. These changes were corroborated by qRT-PCR and found to be exclusive to the PAG compared to seven other brain regions examined. These data suggest that cholinergic transmission in the PAG is involved in the generation of 22-kHz USVs and provide potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of affective disorders.

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Periaqueductal gray matter projections to midline and intralaminar thalamic nuclei of the rat

2000

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The periaqueductal gray matter (PAG) projections to the intralaminar and midline thalamic nuclei were examined in rats. Phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin (PHA-L) was injected in discrete regions of the PAG, and axonal labeling was examined in the thalamus. PHA-L was also placed into the dorsal raphe nuclei or nucleus of Darkschewitsch and interstitial nucleus of Cajal as controls. In a separate group of rats, the retrograde tracer cholera toxin beta-subunit (CTb) was injected into one of the intralaminar thalamic nuclei-lateral parafascicular, medial parafascicular, central lateral (CL), paracentral (PC), or central medial nucleus-or one of the midline thalamic nuclei-paraventricular (PVT), intermediodorsal (IMD), mediodorsal, paratenial, rhomboid (Rh), reuniens (Re), or caudal ventral medial (VMc) nucleus. The distribution of CTb labeled neurons in the PAG was then mapped. All PAG regions (the four columns of the caudal two-thirds of the PAG plus rostral PAG) and the precommissural nucleus projected to the rostral PVT, IMD, and CL. The ventrolateral, lateral, and rostral PAG provided additional inputs to most of the other intralaminar and midline thalamic nuclei. PAG inputs to the VMc originated from the rostral and ventrolateral PAG areas. In addition, the lateral and rostral PAG projected to the zona incerta. No evidence was found for a PAG input to the ventroposterior lateral parvicellular, ventroposterior medial parvicellular, caudal PC, oval paracentral, and reticular thalamic nuclei. PAG --> thalamic circuits may modulate autonomic-, nociceptive-, and behavior-related forebrain circuits associated with defense and emotional responses.

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Mesencephalic central gray lesions and fear-motivated behavior in rats

Cited by 214 publications

References 23 publications

Different projections of the central amygdaloid nucleus mediate autonomic and behavioral correlates of conditioned fear

Different projections of the central amygdaloid nucleus mediate autonomic and behavioral correlates of conditioned fear

Social defeat, a paradigm of depression in rats that elicits 22-kHz vocalizations, preferentially activates the cholinergic signaling pathway in the periaqueductal gray

Periaqueductal gray matter projections to midline and intralaminar thalamic nuclei of the rat

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