Role of dopamine receptor mechanisms in the amygdaloid modulation of fear and anxiety: Structural and functional analysis.

Dopamine plays an important role in fear and anxiety modulating a cortical brake that the medial prefrontal cortex exerts on the anxiogenic output of the amygdala and have an important influence on the trafficking of impulses between the basolateral (BLA) and central nuclei (CeA) of amygdala. Dopamine afferents from the ventral tegmental area innervate preferentially the rostrolateral main and paracapsular intercalated islands as well as the lateral central nucleus of amygdala activating non-overlapping populations of D1- and D2-dopamine receptors located in these structures. Behaviorally, the intra-amygdaloid infusion of D1 agonists and antagonists elicits anxiogenic and anxiolytic effects respectively on conditioned and non-conditioned models of fear/anxiety suggesting an anxiogenic role for D1 receptors in amygdala. The analysis of the effects of D2 agonists and antagonists suggest that depending of the nature of the threat the animal experiences in anxiety models either anxiogenic or anxiolytic effects are elicited. It is suggested that D1- and D2-dopamine receptors in the amygdala may have a differential role in the modulation of anxiety. The possibility is discussed that D1 receptors participate in danger recognition facilitating conditioned-unconditioned associations by the retrieval of the affective properties of the unconditioned stimuli, and in the control of impulse trafficking from cortical and BLA regions to BLA and CeA nuclei respectively whereas D2 receptors have a role in setting up adaptive responses to cope with aversive environmental stimuli.

Role of the amygdaloid cholecystokinin (CCK)/gastrin-2 receptors and terminal networks in the modulation of anxiety in the rat. Effects of CCK-4 and CCK-8S on anxiety-like behaviour and [3H]GABA release.

The amygdala plays a key role in fear and anxiety. The intercalated islands are clusters of glutamate-responsive GABAergic neurons rich in cholecystokinin (CCK)-2 receptors which control the trafficking of nerve impulses from the cerebral cortex to the central nucleus of amygdala. In this study, the nature of the CCK-glutamate-GABA interactions within the rat rostral amygdala, and their relevance for anxiety, were studied. CCK/gastrin-like immunoreactive nerve terminals were found to be mainly restricted to the paracapsular intercalated islands and the rostrolateral part of the main intercalated island. Behaviourally, the bilateral microinjection of CCK-4 (0.043-4.3 pmol/side) or CCK-8S (4.3 pmol/side) into the rostrolateral amygdala reduced the open-arm exploration in the elevated plus-maze without affecting locomotion. In contrast, neither CCK-4 nor CCK-8S (0.043-4.3 pmol/side) had any effects in the shock-probe burying test as compared with their saline-treated controls. Biochemically, CCK-4 (0.3 and 1.5 microm), unlike CCK-8S, enhanced significantly the K(+)-stimulated release of [(3)H]GABA from amygdala slices. These effects were fully prevented by prior superfusion of the slices with either the selective CCK-2 receptor antagonist CR2945 (3 microm), or 6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3(1H,4H)-dione (DNQX), 10 microm, a glutamatergic (+/-)-alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA)/kainate receptor antagonist. It is suggested that CCK modulates glutamate-GABA mechanisms by acting on CCK-2 receptors via volume transmission occurring at the level of the basolateral amygdaloid nucleus and/or by synaptic or perisynaptic volume transmission in the region of the rostrolateral main and paracapsular intercalated islands, resulting in subsequent disinhibition of the central amygdaloid nucleus and anxiety or panic-like behaviour.