Research article summary (published 14 Apr 2008):

The role of the dorsomedial part of the prefrontal cortex serotonergic innervation in rat responses to the aversively conditioned context: behavioral, biochemical and immunocytochemical studies.

Full Abstract

In this study we have explored differences in animal reactivity to conditioned aversive stimuli using the conditioned fear test (a contextual fear-freezing response), in rats subjected to the selective lesion of the prefrontal cortex serotonergic innervation, and differing in their response to the acute painful stimulation, a footshock (HS--high sensitivity rats, and LS--low sensitivity rats, selected arbitrarily according to their behavior in the 'flinch-jump' pre-test). Local administration of serotonergic neurotoxin (5,7-dihydroxytryptamine) to the dorsomedial part of the prefrontal cortex caused a very strong, structure and neurotransmitter selective depletion of serotonin concentration. In HS rats, the serotonergic lesion significantly disinhibited rat behavior controlled by fear, enhanced c-Fos expression in the dorsomedial prefrontal area, and increased the concentration of GABA in the basolateral amygdala, measured in vivo after the testing session of the conditioned fear test. The LS animals revealed an opposite pattern of behavioral and biochemical changes after serotonergic lesion: an increase in the duration of a freezing response, and expression of c-Fos in the basolateral and central nuclei of amygdala, and a lower GABA concentration in the basolateral amygdala. In control conditions, c-Fos expression did not differ in LS and HS, naïve, not conditioned and not exposed to the test cage animals. The present study adds more arguments for the controlling role of serotonergic innervation of the dorsomedial part of the prefrontal cortex in processing emotional input by other brain centers. Moreover, it provides experimental data, which may help to better explain the anatomical and biochemical basis of differences in individual reactivity to stressful stimulation, and, possibly, to anxiolytic drugs with serotonergic or GABAergic profiles of action.

Author information

Author/s: Lehner, Malgorzata (M); Taracha, Ewa (E); Turzynska, Danuta (D); Sobolewska, Alicja (A); Hamed, Adam (A); Kolomanska, Paulina (P); Skórzewska, Anna (A); Maciejak, Piotr (P); Szyndler, Janusz (J); Bidzinski, Andrzej (A); Plaznik, Adam (A);

Affiliation: Department of Neurochemistry, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, 9 Sobieskiego Street, 02-957 Warsaw, Poland.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Behavioural brain research (Behav Brain Res), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Oct; vol 192 (issue 2) : pp 203-15

Dates: Created 2008/07/11; Completed 2008/09/30;

PMID: 18499280, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine - administration & dosage; toxicity Amygdala - drug effects; metabolism; physiopathology Animals Behavior, Animal - drug effects; physiology Brain - drug effects; metabolism; physiopathology Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid Conditioning, Classical - drug effects; physiology Electroshock - adverse effects Fear - drug effects; physiology Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic - drug effects; physiology Hippocampus - drug effects; metabolism; physiopathology Immunohistochemistry Male

Male Microdialysis Microinjections Nerve Degeneration - chemically induced; physiopathology Neurons - drug effects; metabolism Pain Threshold Prefrontal Cortex - drug effects; metabolism; physiopathology Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos - metabolism Rats Rats, Wistar Serotonin - metabolism Serotonin Agents - administration & dosage; toxicity gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - analysis; metabolism

Associated Chemicals: Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos (0) ; Serotonin Agents (0) ; 5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine (31363-74-3) ; Serotonin (50-67-9) ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (56-12-2)

Related articles

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

• Conditioned and unconditioned fear organized in the periaqueductal gray are differentially sensitive to injections of muscimol into amygdaloid nuclei. 26 Sep 2005
• Dorsal hippocampal administration of triiodothyronine enhances long-term memory for trace cued and delay contextual fear conditioning in rats. 30 Oct 2006
• The role of dorsal hippocampus and basolateral amygdala NMDA receptors in the acquisition and retrieval of context and contextual fear memories. 30 Jul 2007
• Behavioral, immunocytochemical and biochemical studies in rats differing in their sensitivity to pain. 14 May 2006
• Expression of c-Fos and CRF in the brains of rats differing in the strength of a fear response. 2 Nov 2007
• Hypofunction of the dorsal hippocampal NMDA receptors impairs retrieval of memory to partially presented foreground context in a single-trial fear conditioning in rats. 17 Sep 2005
• Complete or partial hippocampal damage produces equivalent retrograde amnesia for remote contextual fear memories. 7 Mar 2007
• Neurotoxic lesions of retrosplenial cortex disrupt signaled and unsignaled contextual fear conditioning. 29 Sep 2008
• Activation of basolateral amygdala corticotropin-releasing factor 1 receptors modulates the consolidation of contextual fear. 3 Oct 2007
• Amygdala-dependent and amygdala-independent pathways for contextual fear conditioning. 20 Jun 2007

See 100+ related articles.

Related Article Map

Legend: - FREE Full text Article. - Abstract only. - Title only. More help.

See a large map of 100+ related articles.