title: Inescapable shock activates serotonergic neurons in all raphe nuclei of rat.
abstract: Animal studies examining the effects of stress upon brain serotonergic neurons have not presented a clearcut and consistent picture. One stressor that has been shown to exert a consistently strong effect on serotonin release and c-fos activation in the dorsal raphe nucleus of rats is a series of inescapable electrical shocks. Using immunohistochemical double labeling for c-fos activation and serotonin, we examined the effects of delivering 100 inescapable tailshocks to rats on serotonergic neuronal activation throughout the brainstem raphe system. This stimulus exerted a consistent and strong activation of the entire midline brain stem system of serotonergic neurons. The implications of these findings for animal models of human psychopathology are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Anatomia, Instituto de Ciências Biomedicas, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Takase
authors.forename: Maria Ines
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Nogueira
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baratta
authors.forename: Sondra T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Bland
authors.forename: Linda R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.forename: Steven F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Casimir A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Fornal
authors.forename: Barry L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Jacobs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D004597:Electroshock / Q000379:methods*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D011903:Raphe Nuclei / Q000166:cytology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D012701:Serotonin