title: Altered activity of the medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala during acquisition and extinction of an active avoidance task.
abstract: Altered medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and amygdala function is associated with anxiety-related disorders. While the mPFC-amygdala pathway has a clear role in fear conditioning, these structures are also involved in active avoidance. Given that avoidance perseveration represents a core symptom of anxiety disorders, the neural substrate of avoidance, especially its extinction, requires better understanding. The present study was designed to investigate the activity, particularly, inhibitory neuronal activity in mPFC and amygdala during acquisition and extinction of lever-press avoidance in rats. Neural activity was examined in the mPFC, intercalated cell clusters (ITCs) lateral (LA), basal (BA) and central (CeA) amygdala, at various time points during acquisition and extinction, using induction of the immediate early gene product, c-Fos. Neural activity was greater in the mPFC, LA, BA, and ITC during the extinction phase as compared to the acquisition phase. In contrast, the CeA was the only region that was more activated during acquisition than during extinction. Our results indicate inhibitory neurons are more activated during late phase of acquisition and extinction in the mPFC and LA, suggesting the dynamic involvement of inhibitory circuits in the development and extinction of avoidance response. Together, these data start to identify the key brain regions important in active avoidance behavior, areas that could be associated with avoidance perseveration in anxiety disorders.
authors.affiliation: Neurobehavioral Laboratory, Veterans Bio-Medical Research Institute (VBRI) East Orange, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Xilu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Neurobehavioral Research Laboratory, Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Health Care System East Orange, NJ, USA ; Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.affiliation: Neurobehavioral Research Laboratory, Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Health Care System East Orange, NJ, USA ; Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Catherine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences Newark, NJ, USA ; Syracuse VA Medical Center, Department of Veterans Affairs Syracuse, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Servatius
authors.affiliation: Neurobehavioral Research Laboratory, Department of Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Health Care System East Orange, NJ, USA ; Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin C H
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Pang
keywords: c-Fos; gamma-aminobutyric-acid (GABA); glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD); intercalated cell (ITC); lever-press; parvalbumin; rat