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Exposure to an Alarm Pheromone Combined with Footshock Stress Enhances Responsivity of the Medial Amygdala-Hippocampus Circuit

Received: 11 November 2014     Accepted: 19 November 2014     Published: 23 November 2014
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Abstract

Alarm substances are released under stressful situations and may constitute signals that prevent other members of the group from encountering dangerous situations by producing fear. 2-Heptanone is an alarm pheromone that increases the neuronal firing rate in temporal lobe structures that are related to fear in the rat, such as the basal amygdala. A single stress session of unavoidable electric footshock or 2-heptanone sniffing increases the responsivity of the medial amygdala-hippocampus circuit, but unknown is the timing of action of simultaneous exposure to both stressors on the firing rate and responsivity of CA1-CA3 neurons identified by their connections with the medial amygdala nucleus. Twenty-four or 48 h after a single stress session, we obtained single-unit extracellular recordings. The firing rate was higher in the 48 h group. The peristimulus histogram showed an increase in the responsivity of amygdala-hippocampus neurons, which was more pronounced 48 h after a single stress session. The present results suggest an increase in the sensitivity of this circuit after a single stress session, seemingly representing a first step in the formation of emotional memories related to a conditioned response to fear.

Published in American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (Volume 2, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajpn.20140206.11
Page(s) 83-89
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

2-heptanone, Fear, Footshock, Amygdala, Hippocampus

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  • APA Style

    Carlos M. Contreras, Tania Molina-Jiménez, Ana G. Gutiérrez-García. (2014). Exposure to an Alarm Pheromone Combined with Footshock Stress Enhances Responsivity of the Medial Amygdala-Hippocampus Circuit. American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 2(6), 83-89. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20140206.11

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    ACS Style

    Carlos M. Contreras; Tania Molina-Jiménez; Ana G. Gutiérrez-García. Exposure to an Alarm Pheromone Combined with Footshock Stress Enhances Responsivity of the Medial Amygdala-Hippocampus Circuit. Am. J. Psychiatry Neurosci. 2014, 2(6), 83-89. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20140206.11

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    AMA Style

    Carlos M. Contreras, Tania Molina-Jiménez, Ana G. Gutiérrez-García. Exposure to an Alarm Pheromone Combined with Footshock Stress Enhances Responsivity of the Medial Amygdala-Hippocampus Circuit. Am J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2014;2(6):83-89. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20140206.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajpn.20140206.11,
      author = {Carlos M. Contreras and Tania Molina-Jiménez and Ana G. Gutiérrez-García},
      title = {Exposure to an Alarm Pheromone Combined with Footshock Stress Enhances Responsivity of the Medial Amygdala-Hippocampus Circuit},
      journal = {American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience},
      volume = {2},
      number = {6},
      pages = {83-89},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajpn.20140206.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20140206.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpn.20140206.11},
      abstract = {Alarm substances are released under stressful situations and may constitute signals that prevent other members of the group from encountering dangerous situations by producing fear. 2-Heptanone is an alarm pheromone that increases the neuronal firing rate in temporal lobe structures that are related to fear in the rat, such as the basal amygdala. A single stress session of unavoidable electric footshock or 2-heptanone sniffing increases the responsivity of the medial amygdala-hippocampus circuit, but unknown is the timing of action of simultaneous exposure to both stressors on the firing rate and responsivity of CA1-CA3 neurons identified by their connections with the medial amygdala nucleus. Twenty-four or 48 h after a single stress session, we obtained single-unit extracellular recordings. The firing rate was higher in the 48 h group. The peristimulus histogram showed an increase in the responsivity of amygdala-hippocampus neurons, which was more pronounced 48 h after a single stress session. The present results suggest an increase in the sensitivity of this circuit after a single stress session, seemingly representing a first step in the formation of emotional memories related to a conditioned response to fear.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Exposure to an Alarm Pheromone Combined with Footshock Stress Enhances Responsivity of the Medial Amygdala-Hippocampus Circuit
    AU  - Carlos M. Contreras
    AU  - Tania Molina-Jiménez
    AU  - Ana G. Gutiérrez-García
    Y1  - 2014/11/23
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20140206.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajpn.20140206.11
    T2  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
    JF  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
    JO  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
    SP  - 83
    EP  - 89
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-426X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20140206.11
    AB  - Alarm substances are released under stressful situations and may constitute signals that prevent other members of the group from encountering dangerous situations by producing fear. 2-Heptanone is an alarm pheromone that increases the neuronal firing rate in temporal lobe structures that are related to fear in the rat, such as the basal amygdala. A single stress session of unavoidable electric footshock or 2-heptanone sniffing increases the responsivity of the medial amygdala-hippocampus circuit, but unknown is the timing of action of simultaneous exposure to both stressors on the firing rate and responsivity of CA1-CA3 neurons identified by their connections with the medial amygdala nucleus. Twenty-four or 48 h after a single stress session, we obtained single-unit extracellular recordings. The firing rate was higher in the 48 h group. The peristimulus histogram showed an increase in the responsivity of amygdala-hippocampus neurons, which was more pronounced 48 h after a single stress session. The present results suggest an increase in the sensitivity of this circuit after a single stress session, seemingly representing a first step in the formation of emotional memories related to a conditioned response to fear.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Unidad Periférica del Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Xalapa, Veracruz, 91190, México

  • Laboratorio de Neurofarmacología, Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, 91190, México

  • Laboratorio de Neurofarmacología, Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, 91190, México

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