Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Anxiety is a natural and adaptive behavioral response that is evoked in anticipation of a threatening situation. In some cases, however, anxiety can be maladaptive, manifesting itself in the absence of a threatening cue. Previous studies showed that the ventral hippocampus and the amygdala have been implicated as being involved in anxiety. However, little is known about how they interact to modulate anxiety behavior. In light of this, experiments were performed to investigate how the ventral hippocampus inputs to the amygdala control anxiety. Specifically, ventral hippocampus axon terminals were modulated optogenetically in freely moving mice on an elevated plus maze test. Results revealed that activating ventral hippocampal inputs to the amygdala leads to an increase in anxiety behavior, whereas the inhibition of the same inputs results in a decrease in anxiety. Thus, our findings suggest that the ventral hippocampal inputs to the amygdala play a role in regulating anxiety.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Shadi Bakir
Language: English
Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2787824375