Adrenalectomy alters the response of neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis to electrical stimulation of the medial amygdala.
This study was performed to characterize the effects of adrenalectomy (ADX) on electrical activity and synaptic responses of bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and preoptic area (POA) neurons, which are involved in the control of limbic-hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (LHPA) activity. Adrenalectomy altered the response of BNST neurons to medial amygdala (AME) stimulation, increasing the proportion of excitatory responses and reducing the number of cells inhibited. No such effects were found for neurons within the POA. The basal activity of neurons recorded within the BNST and POA, as well as the latencies and duration of responses, was not affected. The specificity of the effects upon BNST, but not POA, neurons suggests that the response of BNST neurons to AME stimulation is corticosteroid dependent, whereas the response of preoptic neurons is not.
Sánchez
M M
MM
Department of Pharmacology, Louisiana State University Medical Center, Shreveport 71130-3932.
Aguado
F
F
Sánchez-Toscano
F
F
Saphier
D
D
D000315:Adrenalectomy; D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004594:Electrophysiology; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D011301:Preoptic Area / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013788:Thalamus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*
D003345:Corticosterone