Electrical activity recorded from thin sections of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and the effects of neurotensin.
Effects of neurotensin on neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) were studied in vitro in thin brain sections of the guinea pig. Electrical stimulation to the stria terminalis (ST) elicited a negative field potential in the BST. The field potential was markedly suppressed in the medium containing Ca2+ at a low concentration of Mg2+ at a high concentration. BST neurons discharged in response to ST stimulation. Some of them also fired spontaneously. Neurotensin excited about two-thirds of BST neurons at concentrations of 0.35-35 nM. This excitation was not blocked when synaptic transmission was blocked in a medium containing Ca2+ in a low concentration and Mg2+ in a high concentration. These observations suggest that neurotensin is an excitatory transmitter or modulator in the amygdalo-BST projection.
D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects*; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000494:pharmacology; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000187:drug effects*; D008274:Magnesium / Q000494:pharmacology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D009496:Neurotensin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects; D013788:Thalamus / Q000187:drug effects*
D009496:Neurotensin; D008274:Magnesium; D002118:Calcium