title: Defense reaction induced by microinjections of bicuculline into the inferior colliculus.
abstract: Behavioral and autonomic effects of microinjections of bicuculline--a GABA receptor antagonist--into ventral aspects of the inferior colliculus (IC) produced a behavioral activation together with jumps. This activation was similar to escape behavior that has been induced from periventricular structures although it was neither as explosive as that observed from the dorsal periaqueductal gray matter (DPAG) nor as coordinated as that obtained from the medial hypothalamus (MH). In anesthetized rats, microinjection of bicuculline into the IC produced a clear rise in mean arterial blood pressure and in heart rate. These effects reached a maximum after 10 min and subsided within 20 min after injection. GABA receptor blockade in the IC of detelencephalated rats also resulted in escape behavior qualitatively similar to that observed in intact animals. These results suggest that in addition to the central gray and medial hypothalamus, GABA also exerts a tonic inhibitory action on neurons of the IC implicated in the generation or elaboration of aversive responses.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Psicobiologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Brandão
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tomaz
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Coimbra
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bagri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects*; D001640:Bicuculline / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004924:Escape Reaction / Q000187:drug effects*; D007245:Inferior Colliculi / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000187:drug effects; D013687:Telencephalon / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D001640:Bicuculline