Role of the Amygdala in Fear Motivated Actions

New York University, New York NY

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Conditioned fear behavior can fall into two broad classes: Pavlovian reactions and instrumental actions. Pavlovian reactions are rapidly acquired fear responses that prevent escalation of a threat. Instrumental actions, are more slowly acquired, and serve to remove the organism from threatening cues. Fear reactions depend critically on information flow from the lateral (LA) to the central (CE) nucleus of the amygdala. Much less is known about the contribution of specific amygdala nuclei to fear-motivated actions. However, the amygdala appears to be required, because combined damage to the LA, CE and the basal amygdala nucleus (B) impairs acquisition of an instrumental action. Brain structures afferent to B, such as the ventral striatum, have been implicated in action learning and performance in appetitive tasks, information flow from LA to B may be critical for the generation of fear actions, however, this hypothesis has not been tested in depth. The project will examine this hypothesis by systematically testing the specific roles of the LA, CE and B on the performance of an instrumental action using behavioral, lesion, and anatomical methods. Public Health Relevance: Anxiety disorders affect more than 40 million Americans. Active, as opposed to passive, coping strategies decrease vulnerability for mood and anxiety disorders after trauma. This proposal will contribute to our understanding of trauma-related anxiety disorders by identifying the role of specific amygdala nuclei in mediating and constraining fear-motivated actions.