Glutamatergic and gabaergic ventral BNST neurons differ in their physiological properties and responsiveness to noradrenaline.

ABSTRACT: The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) regulates defensive responses to threats and its anteroventral portion (BNST-AV) is involved. BNST-AV contains a minority of glutamatergic neurons scattered among a dominant population of GABAergic cells. There is evidence that these two cell types might exert opposite influences, the former promoting and the latter reducing anxiety. Although GABAergic cells greatly outnumber glutamatergic neurons in BNST-AV, in some circumstances the influence of glutamatergic cells appears to predominate. Related to this, BNST-AV receives a very strong noradrenaline (NA) input and negative emotional states are associated with a marked rise of NA concentration in BNST-AV. However, it is currently unclear whether NA differentially alters the excitability of gl

SUBMITTER: Gungor NZ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6098041 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature