RT Journal
A1 Goldstein, Lee E.
A1 Rasmusson, Ann M.
A1 Bunney, B. Steve
A1 Roth, Robert H.
T1 Role of the Amygdala in the Coordination of Behavioral, Neuroendocrine, and Prefrontal Cortical Monoamine Responses to Psychological Stress in the Rat
JF The Journal of Neuroscience 
JO The Journal of Neuroscience 
YR 1996 
FD August 01 
VO 16 
IS 15 
SP 4787 
OP 4798 
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.16-15-04787.1996 
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/16/15/4787.abstract 
AB Exposure to mild stress is known to activate dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT), and norepinephrine (NE) metabolism in the anteromedial prefrontal cortex (m-PFC). Neuroanatomical site(s) providing afferent control of the stress activation of the m-PFC monoaminergic systems is at present unknown. The present study used a conditioned stress model in which rats were trained to fear a substartle-threshold tone paired previously with footshock and assessed for behavioral, neuroendocrine, and neurochemical stress responses. Bilateral NMDA-induced excitotoxic lesioning of the basolateral and central nuclei of the amygdala was performed before or after training. Pretraining amygdala lesions blocked stress-induced freezing behavior, ultrasonic vocalizations, adrenocortical activation, and dopaminergic metabolic activation in the m-PFC. Post-training amygdala lesions blocked stress-induced m-PFC DA, 5-HT, and NE metabolic activation. Post-training amygdala lesions also blocked stress-induced freezing and defecation, and greatly attenuated adrenocortical activation. These data provide evidence of amygdalar control of stress-induced metabolic activation of the monoaminergic systems in the m-PFC, as well as amygdalar integration of behavioral and neuroendocrine components of the rat stress response. These results are discussed in terms of possible relevance to stress-induced exacerbation of schizophrenic symptoms and the pathophysiology of post-traumatic stress disorder.