Acute stress activates basolateral amygdala neurons expressing corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor type 1 (CRHR1): Topographical distribution and projection-specific activation in male and female rats.

ABSTRACT: Although the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and corticotropin releasing hormone receptor type I (CRHR1) signaling are both central to the stress response, the spatial and circuit-specific distribution of CRHR1 have not been identified in the BLA at a high resolution. We used transgenic male and female CRHR1-Cre-tdTomato rats to topographically map the distribution of BLA^CRHR1 neurons and identify whether they are activated by acute stress. Additionally, we used the BLA circuits projecting to the central amygdala (CeA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) as a model to test circuit-specific expression of CRHR1 in the BLA. We established several key findings. First, CRHR1 had the strongest expression in the lateral amygdala and in caudal portions of the BLA. Second, acute restraint stress incr

SUBMITTER: Aukema RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11615582 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature