title: Periaqueductal grey stimulation induced panic-like behaviour is accompanied by deactivation of the deep cerebellar nuclei.
abstract: Until recently, the cerebellum was primarily considered to be a structure involved in motor behaviour. New anatomical and clinical evidence has shown that the cerebellum is also involved in higher cognitive functions and non-motor behavioural changes. Functional imaging in patients with anxiety disorders and in cholecystokinin tetrapeptide-induced panic-attacks shows activation changes in the cerebellum. Deep brain stimulation of the dorsolateral periaqueductal grey (dlPAG) and the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) in rats has been shown to induce escape behaviour, which mimics a panic attack in humans. We used this animal model to study the neuronal activation in the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCbN) using c-Fos immunohistochemistry. c-Fos expression in the DCbN decreased significantly after inducing escape behaviour by stimulation of the dlPAG and the VMH, indicating that the DCbN were deactivated. This study demonstrates that the DCbN are directly or indirectly involved in panic attacks. We suggest that the cerebellum plays a role in the selection of relevant information, and that deactivation of the cerebellar nuclei is required to allow inappropriate behaviour to occur, such as panic attacks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands. v.moers@mumc.nl
authors.forename: Véronique M P
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Moers-Hornikx
authors.forename: Johan S H
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Vles
authors.forename: Lee Wei
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ayyildiz
authors.forename: Suleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Antonio W D
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Gavilanes
authors.forename: Govert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hoogland
authors.forename: Harry W M
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Steinbusch
authors.forename: Yasin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Temel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D002529:Cerebellar Nuclei / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004566:Electrodes; D004924:Escape Reaction / Q000502:physiology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D010200:Panic; D010487:Periaqueductal Gray / Q000502:physiology*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos