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...

We examined the effects of discrete, bilateral excitotoxic lesions of the central or basolateral nucleus of the amygdala on naloxone-precipitated withdrawal-induced conditioned place aversion in morphine-dependent rats. Lesions of the central nucleus significantly attenuated the conditioned place aversion, while lesions of the basolateral nucleus had little effect. These results suggest that th...

INTRODUCTION The central nucleus of amygdala plays an important role mediating fear and anxiety responses. It is known that oxytocin microinjections into the central nucleus of amygdala induce hypergrooming, an experimental model of compulsive behavior. We evaluated the behavioral and cardiorespiratory responses of conscious rats microinjected with oxytocin into the central nucleus of amygdala....

The goal of this work was to test the involvement of the central nucleus and basolateral complex of the amygdala in fear conditioning, using auditory and visual conditioned stimuli (CSs). The acoustic startle reflex in rats was used as the behavioral index of conditioning because startle is reliably enhanced in the presence of a conditioned stimulus (CS) previously paired with a footshock. Init...

A vast body of evidence points to the role of the limbic system in the mechanism of drug dependence. Opioid peptides localized in the limbic system may play a role in central effects of substances of abuse. The goal of the present study was to investigate the influence of acutely and chronically administered drugs of abuse, cocaine and amphetamine on biosynthesis of prodynorphin and proenkephal...

The amygdala is essential for classical fear conditioning. According to the current model of auditory fear conditioning, the lateral nucleus is the input station of the amygdala for conditioned auditory stimuli, whereas the central nucleus is the output station for conditioned fear responses. Yet, the lateral nucleus does not project to the central medial nucleus, where most brainstem projectio...

The lateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTL) is involved in mediating anxiety-related behaviors to sustained aversive stimuli. The BSTL forms part of the central extended amygdala, a continuum composed of the BSTL, the amygdala central nucleus, and cell columns running between the two. The central subdivision (BSTLcn) and the juxtacapsular subdivision (BSTLJ) are two BSTL regions that...

We investigated the involvement of the hippocampal formation and the amygdala in the acquisition and expression of the amphetamine-produced conditioned place preference (CPP). Animals were conditioned in four sessions that included two pairings of d-amphetamine (2.0 mg/kg, s.c.) with one of two distinct compartments and two pairings of vehicle with the other compartment in a counterbalanced man...