title: The role of the dorsomedial part of the prefrontal cortex serotonergic innervation in rat responses to the aversively conditioned context: behavioral, biochemical and immunocytochemical studies.
abstract: In this study we have explored differences in animal reactivity to conditioned aversive stimuli using the conditioned fear test (a contextual fear-freezing response), in rats subjected to the selective lesion of the prefrontal cortex serotonergic innervation, and differing in their response to the acute painful stimulation, a footshock (HS--high sensitivity rats, and LS--low sensitivity rats, selected arbitrarily according to their behavior in the 'flinch-jump' pre-test). Local administration of serotonergic neurotoxin (5,7-dihydroxytryptamine) to the dorsomedial part of the prefrontal cortex caused a very strong, structure and neurotransmitter selective depletion of serotonin concentration. In HS rats, the serotonergic lesion significantly disinhibited rat behavior controlled by fear, enhanced c-Fos expression in the dorsomedial prefrontal area, and increased the concentration of GABA in the basolateral amygdala, measured in vivo after the testing session of the conditioned fear test. The LS animals revealed an opposite pattern of behavioral and biochemical changes after serotonergic lesion: an increase in the duration of a freezing response, and expression of c-Fos in the basolateral and central nuclei of amygdala, and a lower GABA concentration in the basolateral amygdala. In control conditions, c-Fos expression did not differ in LS and HS, naïve, not conditioned and not exposed to the test cage animals. The present study adds more arguments for the controlling role of serotonergic innervation of the dorsomedial part of the prefrontal cortex in processing emotional input by other brain centers. Moreover, it provides experimental data, which may help to better explain the anatomical and biochemical basis of differences in individual reactivity to stressful stimulation, and, possibly, to anxiolytic drugs with serotonergic or GABAergic profiles of action.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurochemistry, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, 9 Sobieskiego Street, 02-957 Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lehner
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Taracha
authors.forename: Danuta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Turzyńska
authors.forename: Alicja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sobolewska
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamed
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kołomańska
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Skórzewska
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maciejak
authors.forename: Janusz
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szyndler
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bidziński
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Płaźnik
mesh_terms: D015116:5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity; D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004597:Electroshock / Q000009:adverse effects; D005239:Fear / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D046352:Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D017551:Microdialysis; D008845:Microinjections; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D017288:Pain Threshold; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D018490:Serotonin Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D018490:Serotonin Agents; D015116:5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine; D012701:Serotonin; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid