神経科学研究部の杉村です。
今週は下記の論文をご紹介いたします。
よろしくお願いいたします。
Abstract
Anxiety is characterized by dysregulated respiratory reactivity to
emotional stimuli. The central amygdala (CeA) is a pivotal structure
involved in processing emotional alterations, but its involvement in
orchestrating anxiety-like behaviors and specific breathing patterns
remains largely unexplored. Our findings demonstrate that the acute
restraint stress (ARS) induces anxiety-like behaviors in mice, marked by
prolonged grooming time and faster respiratory frequency (RF).
Conversely, silencing GABAergic CeA neurons reduces post-ARS anxiety-
like behaviors, as well as the associated increases in grooming time and
RF. In actively behaving mice, stimulation of GABAergic CeA neurons
elicits anxiety-like behaviors, concurrently prolongs grooming time,
accelerates RF through a CeA-thalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVT)
circuit. In either behaviorally quiescent or anesthetized mice,
stimulation of these neurons significantly increases RF but does not
induce anxiety-like behaviors through the CeA-lateral parabrachial
nucleus (LPBN) circuit. Collectively, GABAergic CeA neurons are
instrumental in orchestrating anxiety-like behaviors and breathing
patterns primarily through the CeA-PVT and CeA-LPBN circuits,
respectively.