Dysfunction in Amygdala-Prefrontal Plasticity and Extinction-Resistant Avoidance: A model for anxiety disorder vulnerability.

Dysfunction in Amygdala-Prefrontal Plasticity and Extinction-Resistant Avoidance: A model for anxiety disorder vulnerability.
Exp Neurol. 2015 Nov 4;
Authors: Fragale JE, Khariv V, Gregor DM, Smith IM, Jiao X, Elkabes S, Servatius RJ, Pang KC, Beck KD
Abstract
Individuals exhibiting an anxiety disorder are believed to possess an innate vulnerability that makes them susceptible to the disorder. Anxiety disorders are also associated with abnormalities in the interconnected brain regions of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, the link between anxiety vulnerability and amygdala-PFC dysfunction is currently unclear. Accordingly, the present study sought to determine if innate dysfunction within the amygdala to PFC projection underlies the susceptibility to develop anxiety-like behavior, using an anxiety vulnerable rodent model. The inbred Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat was used to model vulnerability, as this strain naturally expresses extinction-resistant avoidance; a behavior that models the symptom of avoidance present in anxiety disorders. Synaptic plasticity was assessed within the projection from the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) to the prelimbic cortical subdivision of the PFC in WKY and Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. While WKY rats exhibited normal paired-pulse plasticity, they did not maintain long-term potentiation (LTP) as SD rats. Thus, impaired plasticity within the BLA-PL cortex projection may contribute to ext...

Source: Experimental Neurology - November 4, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Fragale JE, Khariv V, Gregor DM, Smith IM, Jiao X, Elkabes S, Servatius RJ, Pang KC, Beck KD Tags: Exp Neurol Source Type: research