Contextual fear conditioning is associated with lateralized expression of the immediate early gene c-fos in the central and basolateral amygdalar nuclei.
Fos, the protein product of the immediate early gene c-fos, was used to map functional circuitry underlying contextual conditioned fear. Male rats were given footshocks in a distinctive context and later tested using freezing as the behavioral measure and compared with no-shock and no-retention-test control groups. An increased number of Fos-immunoreactive neurons was found in the lateral part of the central nucleus and in the anterior basolateral and lateral amygdalar nuclei in the brains of the conditioned-fear group compared with controls. Further, a greater number of Fos-immunoreactive neurons was observed in the right central and anterior basolateral nuclei compared with the number of labeled neurons in these structures on the left.
Scicli
Andrea P
AP
Neuroscience Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2520, USA.
Petrovich
Gorica D
GD
Swanson
Larry W
LW
Thompson
Richard F
RF
D000679:Amygdala / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D017781:Genes, Immediate-Early / Q000502:physiology*; D016762:Genes, fos / Q000502:physiology*; D007103:Immobilization / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley