Neurons in the principal nucleus of the bed nuclei of the stria terminalis provide a sexually dimorphic gabaergic input to the anteroventral periventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus

Polston, Eva K.; Gu, Geonmo; Simerly, Richard B.

doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2003.09.034

Cited by 72 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Replicating these findings, our dual viral strategy led to strong EYFP expression in numerous BNST-AL and -AV neurons but in very few BNST-AM cells. Earlier studies also noted that the majority of BNST neurons are GABAergic (Cullinan et al 1993;Polston et al 2004;Poulin et al 2009) and that BNST projections are denser to CeM than to CeL (Dong et al 2001b). Consistent with this, we found that activation of BNST axons typically elicited inhibitory responses in CeA neurons and that their incidence was higher in CeM than in CeL.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Optogenetic study of the projections from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to the central amygdala

Gungor

Yamamoto

Paré

2015

Journal of Neurophysiology

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study of the projections from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to the central amygdala. J Neurophysiol 114: 2903-2911. First published September 23, 2015 doi:10.1152/jn.00677.2015.-It has been proposed that the central amygdala (CeA), particularly its medial sector (CeM), generates brief fear responses to discrete conditioned cues, whereas the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) promotes long-lasting, anxiety-like states in response to more diffuse contingencies. Although it is believed that BNST-CeA interactions determine the transition between short-and long-duration responses, the nature of these interactions remains unknown. To shed light on this question, we used a double viral strategy to drive the expression of channelrhodopsin (ChR2) in BNST cells that project to CeA. Next, using patch-clamp recordings in vitro, we investigated the connectivity of infected cells to noninfected cells in BNST and compared the influence of BNST axons on neurons in the medial and lateral (CeL) parts of CeA. CeA-projecting BNST cells were concentrated in the anterolateral (AL) and anteroventral (AV) sectors of BNST. Dense plexuses of BNST axons were observed throughout CeA. In CeA and BNST, light-evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials accounted for a minority of responses (0 -9% of tested cells); inhibition prevailed. The incidence of inhibitory responses was higher in CeM than in CeL (66% and 43% of tested cells, respectively). Within BNST, the connections from CeA-projecting to non-CeA-targeting cells varied as a function of the BNST sector: 50% vs. 9% of tested cells exhibited light-evoked responses in BNST-AL vs. BNST-AV, respectively. Overall, these results suggest that via its projection to CeA, BNST exerts an inhibitory influence over cued fear and that BNST neurons projecting to CeA form contrasting connections in different BNST subnuclei.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Optogenetic study of the projections from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to the central amygdala

Gungor

Yamamoto

Paré

2015

Journal of Neurophysiology

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“…It has been proposed that the BNST and central amygdala are part of an anatomic entity termed the extended amygdala (Alheid and Heimer 1988;deOlmos and Heimer 1999) Veening et al 1984;Holstege et al 1985;Dong et al 2000;Dong and Swanson 2003, 2004, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While there is disagreement regarding the number and boundaries of BNST nuclei (Andy and Stephan 1964;De Olmos et al 1985;Ju and Swanson 1989;Moga et al 1989), it is clear that different BNST regions form contrasting connections. Within the BNST-A, for instance, hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenalregulating neurons are concentrated in its ventral (BNST-AV) and medial (BNST-AM) portions (Dong et al 2001b;Dong and Swanson 2006a;Prewitt and Herman 1998). In contrast, neurons in the dorsolateral part of the BNST-A (BNST-AL) contribute most BNST outputs to brain stem structures regulating fear expression (Holstege et al 1985;Moga et al 1989;Sofroniew et al 1983;Sun and Cassell 1993).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…While this heterogeneous connectivity suggests a degree of functional specialization within the BNST-A, a comprehensive series of tracing studies by Swanson and colleagues (Dong and Swanson 2003, 2004, 2006a, 2006b, 2006c suggested that different BNST-A regions do not act as independent processing channels but that they interact via inter-nuclear connections. For instance, they reported that components of the BNST-AL, particularly, the oval nucleus, strongly projects to parts of the BNST-AV, such as the fusiform nucleus (Dong and Swanson 2004).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, previous work has revealed that the BNST-A contains GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons (Cullinan et al 1993;Polston et al 2004;Poulin et al 2009;Sun and Cassell 1993), with GABAergic cells accounting for the majority of BNST-A cells and glutamatergic neurons for a minority. Thus, the present study was undertaken to shed light on the organization of intrinsic BNST-A connections using a method that has higher spatial resolution than tract tracing and allows identification of the transmitters involved: glutamate uncaging (GU) coupled to patch recordings in vitro.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Intrinsic connections in the anterior part of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis

Turesson

Rodríguez-Sierra

Paré

2013

Journal of Neurophysiology

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Turesson HK, Rodríguez-Sierra OE, Pare D. Intrinsic connections in the anterior part of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. J Neurophysiol 109: 2438 -2450, 2013. First published February 27, 2013 doi:10.1152/jn.00004.2013.-Intrinsic connections in the anterior portion of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST-A) were studied using patch recordings and ultraviolet (UV) glutamate uncaging (GU) in vitro. UV light was delivered at small BNST-A sites in a grid-like pattern while evoked responses were monitored in different BNST-A regions. Three sectors were distinguished in the BNST-A using fiber bundles readily identifiable in transilluminated slices: the anterior commissure, dividing the BNST-A into dorsal and ventral (BNST-AV) regions, and the intra-BNST component of the stria terminalis, subdividing the dorsal portion into medial (BNST-AM) and lateral (BNST-AL) regions. Overall, GU elicited GABAergic inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) more frequently than excitatory postsynaptic potentials. The incidence of intraregional connections was higher than interregional links. With respect to the latter, asymmetric connections were seen between different parts of the BNST-A. Indeed, while reciprocal connections were found between the BNST-AL and BNST-AM, BNST-AL to BNST-AM connections were more frequent than in the opposite direction. Similarly, while GU in the BNST-AM or BNST-AL often elicited IPSPs in BNST-AV cells, the opposite was rarely seen. Within the BNST-AM, connections were polarized, with dorsal GU sites eliciting IPSPs in more ventrally located cells more frequently than the opposite. This trend was not seen in other regions of the BNST. Consistent with this, most BNST-AM cells had dorsally directed dendrites and ventrally ramified axons, whereas this morphological polarization was not seen in other parts of the BNST-A. Overall, our results reveal a hitherto unsuspected level of asymmetry in the connections within and between different BNST-A regions, implying a degree of interdependence in their activity.

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Sex Differences in Brain Function

McCarthy

2010

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

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Sex differences in the brain come in many sizes, shapes and forms. The most robust differences between males and females are not surprisingly those directly relevant to reproduction. The neural underpinnings controlling sex behaviour and control of gonadal function are establishing during a developmental sensitive period by the differential hormonal milieu found in males versus females. Considerable advances have been made in identifying the cellular mechanisms of early organizational effects of testosterone and its metabolite estradiol, which then determine adult physiology and behaviour. These mechanisms are highly region‐specific and impact on cell death, axonal projections and synaptogenesis, resulting in a brain that combines varying degrees of maleness and femaleness. The study of reproductive endpoints is not only valid in its own right but also provides insight into the more subtle sex differences associated with cognition, emotionality, social behaviour and relative risk of neurological disorders and diseases of mental health. Key Concepts: During development sex‐specific hormones organize the brain into a male or female phenotype which is then activated by hormones in adulthood. The largest magnitude sex differences in the brain are in areas associated with control of reproduction. Hormones regulate growth factors, cell death, cell genesis and synaptogenesis to build sexually dimorphic neural circuits. There are multiple cellular mechanisms of hormonally mediated sexual differentiation which vary by brain region and endpoint. Because of the myriad of mechanisms and the impact of environment and experience, ultimately every brain is a moasic of masculine and feminine in varying degrees.

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Neurons in the principal nucleus of the bed nuclei of the stria terminalis provide a sexually dimorphic gabaergic input to the anteroventral periventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus

Cited by 72 publications

References 56 publications

Optogenetic study of the projections from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to the central amygdala

Optogenetic study of the projections from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to the central amygdala

Intrinsic connections in the anterior part of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis

Sex Differences in Brain Function

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