Abstract
Amygdala activation is known to be critical for the processing of stressful events in brain. Recent studies have shown that the projection neurons (PNs) in amygdala, although architecturally intermingled, are integrated into distinct microcircuits and thus play divergent roles in amygdala-related behaviors. It remains unknown how stress regulates the individual amygdala PNs embedded in distinct microcircuits. Here, by using retrograde tracing and electrophysiological recording in in vitro slices, we explored the modulation of acute immobilization stress (AIS) on the basoamygdala (BA) PNs projecting either to medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) or elsewhere, which we designated as BA-mPFC and non-BA-mPFC PNs respectively. The results showed that in the control mice, both the excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs/sIPSCs) were comparable between these two subsets of BA PNs. The influences of AIS on sEPSCs and sIPSCs were overall similar between the two neuronal populations. It markedly increased the sEPSCs amplitude but left unaltered their frequency as well as the sIPSCs amplitude and frequency. Despite this, several differences emerged between the effects of AIS on the distribution of sEPSCs/sIPSCs frequency in these two groups of BA PNs. Similar changes were also observed in the sEPSCs/sIPSCs of the two PN populations from mice experiencing forced swimming stress. Their intrinsic excitability, on the other hand, was nearly unaltered following AIS. Our results thus suggest that acute stress recruit both BA-mPFC and non-BA-mPFC PNs mainly through enhancing the glutamatergic transmission they receive.
Highlights
Coping with the stressful events in daily life is critical for the survival of organisms [1]
acute immobilization stress (AIS) markedly enhances the glutamatergic transmission onto both basal part of amygdala (BA)-medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and non-BA-mPFC projection neurons (PNs) Before examining the modulation of AIS on BA-mPFC and non-BA-mPFC PNs, we first tested its potential influence on BA PNs as a whole
We investigated the specific influence of AIS on the Spontaneous excitatory post-synaptic currents (sEPSC) in BA-mPFC and non-BA-mPFC PNs
Summary
Coping with the stressful events in daily life is critical for the survival of organisms [1]. It has been known for decades that the stress coping system is evolutionally conservative in brain across species ranging from rodents to primates and to humans [2]. The basal part of amygdala (BA) acts to bridge the information flow from the lateral amygdala, the main reception of sensory information entering amygdala to the central amygdala, the main exit of information processed inside amygdala [11]. It accounts for the intercommunication between amygdala and many other regions including prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and ventral striatum [10]. One prominent architectural feature which distinguishes BA from its neighboring regions is that the projection neurons (PNs) in this region, unlike
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.