TY - JOUR
T1 - The projection from dorsal medial prefrontal cortex to basolateral amygdala promotes behaviors of negative emotion in rats
AU - Cai, Youqing
AU - Ge, Jianlong
AU - Pan, Zhizhong Z.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2024 Cai, Ge and Pan.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Brain circuits between medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and amygdala have been implicated in cortical control of emotion, especially anxiety. Studies in recent years focus on differential roles of subregions of mPFC and amygdala, and reciprocal pathways between mPFC and amygdala in regulation of emotional behaviors. It has been shown that, while the projection from ventral mPFC to basomedial amygdala has an anxiolytic effect, the reciprocal projections between dorsal mPFC (dmPFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) are generally involved in an anxiogenic effect in various conditions with increased anxiety. However, the function of the projection from dmPFC to BLA in regulation of general emotional behaviors under normal conditions remains unclear. In this study, we used optogenetic analysis to identify how this dmPFC–BLA pathway regulates various emotional behaviors in normal rats. We found that optogenetic stimulation of the dmPFC–BLA pathway promoted a behavioral state of negative emotion, increasing anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors and producing aversive behavior of place avoidance. Conversely, optogenetic inhibition of this pathway produced opposite effects, reducing anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors, and inducing behaviors of place preference of reward. These findings suggest that activity of the dmPFC–BLA pathway is sufficient to drive a negative emotion state and the mPFC–amygdala circuit is tonically active in cortical regulation of emotional behaviors.
AB - Brain circuits between medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and amygdala have been implicated in cortical control of emotion, especially anxiety. Studies in recent years focus on differential roles of subregions of mPFC and amygdala, and reciprocal pathways between mPFC and amygdala in regulation of emotional behaviors. It has been shown that, while the projection from ventral mPFC to basomedial amygdala has an anxiolytic effect, the reciprocal projections between dorsal mPFC (dmPFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) are generally involved in an anxiogenic effect in various conditions with increased anxiety. However, the function of the projection from dmPFC to BLA in regulation of general emotional behaviors under normal conditions remains unclear. In this study, we used optogenetic analysis to identify how this dmPFC–BLA pathway regulates various emotional behaviors in normal rats. We found that optogenetic stimulation of the dmPFC–BLA pathway promoted a behavioral state of negative emotion, increasing anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors and producing aversive behavior of place avoidance. Conversely, optogenetic inhibition of this pathway produced opposite effects, reducing anxiety-like and depressive-like behaviors, and inducing behaviors of place preference of reward. These findings suggest that activity of the dmPFC–BLA pathway is sufficient to drive a negative emotion state and the mPFC–amygdala circuit is tonically active in cortical regulation of emotional behaviors.
KW - basal lateral amygdala
KW - emotion
KW - medial prefrontal cortex
KW - optogenetics
KW - pain
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U2 - 10.3389/fnins.2024.1331864
DO - 10.3389/fnins.2024.1331864
M3 - Article
C2 - 38327845
AN - SCOPUS:85184392048
SN - 1662-4548
VL - 18
JO - Frontiers in Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Neuroscience
M1 - 1331864
ER -