Inactivation of the lateral septum blocks fox odor-induced fear behavior.
A number of lesion studies have shown that the lateral septum plays an important role in the modulation of innate fear. Furthermore, an increased c-fos expression in the lateral septum was demonstrated after exposure to natural predator odors and 2,3,5,-trimethyl-3-thiazoline (TMT), a component of fox odor. This study investigates, on a behavioral level, whether the lateral septum plays a role in TMT-induced fear. Temporary inactivation of the lateral septum by local muscimol injections clearly blocked TMT-induced fear behavior but had no effect on behavior in a controlled condition. This indicates that the lateral septum is important for the processing of TMT-induced fear and suggests that the lateral septum is also involved in fear behavior induced by natural predator odors.
Endres
Thomas
T
Animal Physiology, Zoological Institute, Faculty of Biology, University of Tübingen, Germany. thomas.endres@uni-tuebingen.de
Fendt
Markus
M
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D005589:Foxes; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012686:Septal Nuclei / Q000502:physiology*; D013844:Thiazoles / Q000494:pharmacology
C451263:2,4,5 trimethylthiazoline; D013844:Thiazoles