BACKGROUND The basolateral amygdala plays a critical role in the etiology of anxiety disorders and addiction. Pyramidal neurons, the primary output cells of this region, display increased firing following exposure to stressors, and it is thought that this increase in excitability contributes to stress responsivity and the expression of anxiety-like behaviors. However, much remains unknown about...

The amygdala is a complex structure that plays its role in perception and threat-related behaviour by activity of its specific nuclei and their separate networks. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we investigated the role of the basolateral amygdala in face and context processing. Five individuals with focal basolateral amygdala damage and 12 matched controls viewed fe...

GABAergic transmission in the amygdala modulates the expression of anxiety. Understanding the interplay between GABAergic transmission and excitatory circuits in the amygdala is, therefore, critical for understanding the neurobiological basis of anxiety. Here, we used a multi-disciplinary approach to demonstrate that GluR5-containing kainate receptors regulate local inhibitory circuits, modulat...

Structural alterations in long-range amygdala connections are proposed to crucially underlie several neuropsychiatric disorders. While progress has been made in elucidating the function of these connections, our understanding of their structure in humans remains sparse and non-systematic. Harnessing diffusion-weighted imaging and probabilistic tractography in humans, we investigate connections ...

The basolateral amygdala's involvement in fear acquisition and expression to visual and auditory stimuli is well known. The involvement of the basolateral and other amygdala areas in fear acquisition and expression to stimuli of other modalities is less certain. We evaluated the contribution of the basolateral and medial amygdala to olfactory and to context fear and fear conditioning by infusin...

The inferior colliculus is notably associated with defensive behavior. Electrical or pharmacological stimulation of the inferior colliculus induces aversive reactions such as running and jumping. Lesion of the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala decreases the threshold of aversive reactions induced by electrical stimulation of the inferior colliculus. The present work examined the influence of ...

Much research has focused on how the amygdala processes individual affects, yet little is known about how multiple types of positive and negative affects are encoded relative to one another at the single-cell level. In particular, it is unclear whether different negative affects, such as fear and disgust, are encoded more similarly than negative and positive affects, such as fear and pleasure. ...

We studied the development of neurons and fibers containing calbindin, calretinin, and parvalbumin in the mouse pallial amygdala, with special emphasis on those of the basolateral amygdalar complex. Numerous calbindin-immunoreactive (CB+) cells were observed in the incipient basolateral amygdalar complex and cortical amygdalar area from E13.5. At E16.5, CB+ cells became more abundant in the lat...

UNLABELLED Reciprocal connections between the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) provide a critical circuit for guiding normal behavior when information about expected outcomes is required. Recently, we reported that outcome signaling by OFC neurons is also necessary for learning in the face of unexpected outcomes during a Pavlovian over-expectation tas...

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) share many reciprocal connections, and a functional interaction between these regions is important in controlling goal-directed behavior. However, their relative roles have proved hard to dissociate. Although injury to these brain regions can cause similar effects, it has been suggested that the resulting impairments a...