Effects of lesioning of the medial cervical nucleus on the baseline spike activity of neurons in the central and basolateral nuclei of the amygdala.

Studies of the characteristics of baseline spike activity in the central and basolateral nuclei of the amygdala demonstrated significant differences between these nuclei. Lesioning of the medial cervical nucleus, which is one of the sources of ascending serotoninergic projections of the forebrain, led to marked and generally reciprocal changes in the spike activity of the amygdalar nuclei studied. It is suggested that serotoninergic afferentation from the medial cervical nucleus modulates the activity of amygdalar nuclei with different functional assignments.