The amplitude of the acoustic startle response is reliably enhanced when elicited in the presence of bright light (light-enhanced startle) or in the presence of cues previously paired with shock (fear-potentiated startle). Light-enhanced startle appears to reflect an unconditioned response to an anxiogenic stimulus, whereas fear-potentiated startle reflects a conditioned response to a fear-elic...

Early-life experience including maternal care profoundly influences hormonal stress responses during adulthood. Daily handling on postnatal day (P) 2-9, eliciting augmented maternal care upon returning pups to their cage, permanently modifies the expression of the stress neuromodulators corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and glucocorticoid receptor (GR). We have previously demonstrated reduce...

Small lesions centered in the posterodorsal region of the medial amygdala resulted in excessive weight gains in female rats. Unilateral lesions were nearly as effective as bilateral lesions in the first 48 h after surgery (+21 to +32 g). Assessment of lesion damage was done by both qualitative evaluation and by a quantitative grid-point counting method. The critical sites for weight gain were t...

Abstract Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the anterior limb internal capsule (ALIC) has shown promise as a therapy for refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and major depressive (MDD). DBS currently is ‘open-loop’ with parameters remaining fixed over time. In contrast, ‘closed-loop’ delivers only when biomarker target symptom state indicates it needed. One challenge to development close...

To determine if substance P- or prodynorphin-containing neurons of the medial nucleus of the amygdala and medial bed nucleus of the stria terminalis send projections to the medial preoptic area in the male Syrian hamster, we placed a fluorescent retrograde tract tracer (either Fluoro-gold, or rhodamine- or fluorescein-impregnated latex microspheres) into the medial preoptic area. Five to seven ...

Glucocorticoids (GCs) exert feedback regulation on corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neurons in mammals. The nature of GC actions is cell-type specific, being either inhibitory (e.g. paraventricular nucleus) or stimulatory (e.g. amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis). Nothing is known about differential regulation of CRF gene expression by GCs in nonmammalian vertebrates. We studi...

The juxtacapsular bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (jcBNST) is activated in response to basolateral amygdala (BLA) inputs through the stria terminalis and projects back to the anterior BLA and to the central nucleus of the amygdala. Here we show a form of long-term potentiation of the intrinsic excitability (LTP-IE) of jcBNST neurons in response to high-frequency stimulation of the stria ter...

Intrinsic connections in the anterior portion of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis 30 (BNST-A) were studied using patch recordings and ultraviolet (UV) uncaging of glutamate 31 (GU) in vitro. UV light was delivered at small BNST-A sites in a grid-like pattern while 32 monitoring evoked responses in different BNST-A regions. Three sectors were 33 distinguished in BNST-A, using fiber bundle...

Lesions of the amygdala have long been known to produce hyperphagia and obesity in cats, dogs, and monkeys, but only recently have studies with rats determined that the effective site is the posterodorsal amygdala (PDA)-the posterodorsal medial amygdaloid nucleus and the intra-amygdaloid bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. There is a sex difference; female rats with PDA lesions display greater...