Serotonin Inputs to the Dorsal BNST Modulate Anxiety in a 5-HT Receptor-dependent Manner

Overview

Journal Mol Psychiatry

Specialties Molecular Biology
Psychiatry

Date 2017 Aug 2

PMID 28761080

Citations 24

Authors

A L Garcia-Garcia

S Canetta

J M Stujenske

N S Burghardt

M S Ansorge

A Dranovsky

E D Leonardo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Serotonin (5-HT) neurons project from the raphe nuclei throughout the brain where they act to maintain homeostasis. Here, we study 5-HT inputs into the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a major subdivision of the extended amygdala that has been proposed to regulate responses to anxiogenic environments in humans and rodents. While the dorsal part of the BNST (dBNST) receives dense 5-HT innervation, whether and how 5-HT in the dBNST normally modulates anxiety remains unclear. Using optogenetics, we demonstrate that activation of 5-HT terminals in the dBNST reduces anxiety in a highly anxiogenic environment. Further analysis revealed that optogenetic inhibition of 5-HT inputs into the dBNST increases anxiety in a less anxiogenic environment. We found that 5-HT predominantly hyperpolarizes dBNST neurons, reducing their activity in a manner that can be blocked by a 5-HT antagonist. Finally, we demonstrate that activation of 5-HT receptors in the dBNST is necessary for the anxiolytic effect observed following optogenetic stimulation of 5-HT inputs into the dBNST. These data reveal that 5-HT release in the dBNST modulates anxiety-like behavior via 5-HT receptors under naturalistic conditions.

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