Serotonergic modulation of basolateral amygdala nucleus in the extinction of reward-driven learning: the role of 5-HT bioavailability and 5-HT1A receptor.

Serotonergic modulation of basolateral amygdala nucleus in the extinction of reward-driven learning: the role of 5-HT bioavailability and 5-HT1A receptor. Behav Brain Res. 2021 Feb 08;:113161 Authors: Pereyra AE, Mininni CJ, Zanutto BS Abstract Serotonin (5-HT) neurotransmission has been associated with reward-related behaviour. Moreover, the serotonergic system modulates the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a structure involved in reward encoding, and reward prediction error. However, the role played by 5-HT on BLA during a reward-driven task has not been fully elucidated. In this paper, we investigated whether serotonergic modulation of the BLA is involved in reward-driven learning. To this end, we trained Long Evans rats in an operant conditioning task, and examined the effects of fluoxetine treatment (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, 10 mg/kg) in combination with BLA lesions with NMDA (20 mg/ml) on extinction learning. We also investigated whether intra-BLA injection of the serotonergic 5-HT1A receptor agonist 8-OH DPAT, or antagonist WAY-100635, alters extinction performance. We found that fluoxetine treatment strongly accelerated extinction learning, while BLA lesions partially reverted this effect and slightly impaired consolidation of extinction. Stimulation and inhibition of 5-HT1A receptors in BLA induced opposite effects to those of fluoxetine, impairing or accelerating extinction performance, respectively. Our fin...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Behav Brain Res Source Type: research