The present review summarizes the up-to-date knowledge on the sexual dimorphism of the CNS with special regard to the sexual differentiation of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) and the amygdala in rat. The authors provide new evidence for the sexual dimorphism and differentiation of GABAergic, leucine-enkephalin-containing and parvalbumin-immunoreactive neurons in the BST and the a...

The central extended amygdala is an evolutionarily conserved set of interconnected brain regions that play an important role in threat processing to promote survival. Two core components of the central extended amygdala, the central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce) and the lateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) are highly similar regions that serve complimentary roles by integrating fear...

The effects of permanent forebrain lesions on conditioned taste aversions (CTAs) and conditioned odor aversions (COAs) were examined in 3 experiments. In Experiment 1, lesions of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis had no influence on CTA or COA acquisition. Although lesions of the lateral hypothalamus induced severe hypodipsia in Experiment 2, they did not prevent the acquisition of CTAs o...

Glucocorticoids regulate corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) gene expression in the placenta and the brain. In both the placenta and two extrahypothalamic sites in the brain (the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis), glucocorticoids elevate CRH gene expression. One functional role of the elevation of CRH by glucocorticoids may be to signal adversity. When CRH is over-expresse...