title: Amygdaloid and non-amygdaloid fear both influence avoidance of risky foraging in hungry rats.
abstract: Considerable evidence seems to show that emotional and reflex reactions to feared situations are mediated by the amygdala. It might therefore seem plausible to expect that amygdala-coded fear should also influence decisions when animals make choices about instrumental actions. However, there is not good evidence of this. In particular, it appears, though the literature is conflicted, that once learning is complete, the amygdala may often not be involved in instrumental avoidance behaviours. It is therefore of interest that we have found in rats living for extended periods in a semi-naturalistic 'closed economy', where they were given random shocks in regions that had to be entered to obtain food, choices about feeding behaviour were in fact influenced by amygdala-coded fear, in spite of the null effect of amygdalar lesions on fear of dangerous location per se. We suggest that avoidance of highly motivated voluntary behaviour does depend in part on fear signals originating in the amygdala. Such signalling may be one role of well-known projections from amygdala to cortico-striate circuitry.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA.
authors: Earnest
authors: E
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA.
authors: Eun Joo
authors: EJ
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA.
authors: Regina
authors: R
authors: Yeh
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA.
authors: Minkyung
authors: M
authors: Shin
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA.
authors: Jake
authors: J
authors: Bobman
authors: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA.
authors: Franklin B
authors: FB
authors: Krasne
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-1525, USA jeansokk@u.washington.edu.
authors: Jeansok J
authors: JJ
authors: Kim
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D004597:Electroshock; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D006815:Hunger; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans
keywords: amygdala; avoidance; fear; foraging; learning; memory