Dual 5-HT mechanisms in basolateral and central nuclei of amygdala in the regulation of the defensive behavior induced by electrical stimulation of the inferior colliculus.

Regulatory mechanisms in the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) serves as a filter for unconditioned and conditioned aversive information that ascend to higher structures from the brainstem whereas the central nucleus (CeA) is the main output for the resultant defense reaction. We have shown that neural substrates in the inferior colliculus are activated by threatening stimuli of acoustic nature and have important functional links with the amygdala. In this work, we examined the influence of lesions with 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT) of these nuclei of amygdala on the aversive responses induced by electrical stimulation of the inferior colliculus. Thus, rats were implanted with an electrode in the CeA of the inferior colliculus for the determination of the thresholds of alertness, freezing and escape responses. Each rat also bore a cannula implanted in the BLA or CeA for injection of 5,7-DHT (8.0 microg/0.8 microl) or its vehicle. The data obtained show that CeA lesions increase the thresholds of aversive responses whereas BLA lesions decrease the thresholds of these responses. From this evidence it is suggested that defensive behavior induced by activation of the neural substrates of aversion in the inferior colliculus seems to depend on the integrity of the amygdala. BLA regulates the input and CeA functions as the output for these aversive states generated at brainstem level. It is likely that aversive information ascending from the inferior colliculus may receive either inhibitory or excitatory influences of 5-HT mechanisms in the BLA or CeA, respectively. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Inc.