The Central Nervous System Organization of Behavior
Rolland S. Parker in Concussive Brain Trauma, 2016
Olfactory system: Nearly all parts of the amygdaloid nuclear complex receive direct or indirect olfactory pathways, while neurons in the amygdala’s nucleus of the olfactory tract and elsewhere send fibers to the olfactory bulb. The amygdala reciprocally connects with the basal forebrain (including the basal nucleus of Meynert, which projects cholinergic fibers back to the amygdala). Efferent fibers reach the thalamus, hypothalamus, and brainstem. There, projection to the ventral striatum is one of the most substantial amygdalal efferents. Fibers terminate in the caudate nucleus and putamen. Amygdalohippocampal projections are to the rostral entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and subiculum. There is a less powerful influence by the hippocampus, since hippocampo-amygdaloid projections are less prominent. The amygdala projects to the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus. This nucleus projects to the region of the orbitofrontal cortex that receives direct amygdalocortical projections, but not back to the amygdala. There is also an amygdaloid projection to the midline thalamic nuclei that reciprocally innervates the amygdala. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis is a relay for projections from the amygdala to the hypothalamus.
Eating Disorders in Sexual and Gender Minorities
Jonna Fries, Veronica Sullivan in Eating Disorders in Special Populations, 2017
An interesting finding was that men had twice as many somatostatin-expressing neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis as cisgender women, and male-to-female transgender persons had similar levels as cisgender women while a female-to-male transgender person had similar levels as cisgender males (Kruijver et al. 2000). The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis has been implicated in fear, stress, and anxiety (Walker et al. 2003) and in autonomic, neuroendocrine, and behavioral responses (Crestani et al. 2013), and the release of somatostatins is associated with depression (Lin and Sibille 2015). Corticotropin-releasing factor in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis has been found to have a meaningful role in frustration and stress-induced binge eating (Micioni Di Bonaventura et al. 2014). Future research may shed light on whether this is meaningful in gender identity and rates of eating disorders in some transgender people.
Joseph LeDoux (b. 1949)
Andrew P. Wickens in Key Thinkers in Neuroscience, 2018
The next question was to ask how the lateral amygdala produces its effects on fear-related behaviour. It was clear from other neuroanatomical studies that the lateral amygdala not only received sensory input from the thalamus but also from other areas of the brain including widespread regions of the neocortex and hippocampus. It was also apparent that the lateral amygdala sent much of its input to the amygdala’s central nucleus that acted as a conduit for its main output pathways. Indeed, LeDoux was to show that all the components of the conditioned emotional response are mediated by different outputs of the central nucleus. Thus, lesioning the central pathway to the periaqueductal gray area of the midbrain interfered with the freezing response, whereas severing the pathway to the lateral hypothalamus abolished the increase in blood pressure. And a lesion made to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, which projects to the ventromedial hypothalamus, was later shown to stop the release of stress hormones involved in fear, including adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone.
Developing the theory of the extended amygdala with the use of the cupric-silver technique
Published in Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 2023
Soledad de Olmos, Alfredo Lorenzo
Through the analysis of the cytoarchitectonic and histochemical features, and with the aid of experimental tract-tracing methods, the organization of the extended amygdala consists of two mayor subdivisions. The central division, which includes the central amygdaloid nucleus and lateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and the medial division, related to the medial amygdaloid nucleus and medial bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. The two divisions form separate corridors through the caudal, sublenticular part of the substatia inominata. The separation of the central and medial divisions of the extended amygdala is also evident in the supracapsular part. The lateral column merges rostrally with the lateral bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and caudally with the central amygdala. The medial column continuous with the medial bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the medial amygdaloid nucleus (Figure 2c; seeAlheid, de Olmos, and Beltramino 1995; Alheid et al. 1994, 1998; de Olmos 1990; 2004; de Olmos, Alheid, and Beltramino 1985; de Olmos and Heimer 1999; de Olmos, Beltramino, and Alheid 2004; Heimer et al. 1991; Heimer, Alheid, et al., 1997; Heimer, Harlan, et al., 1997; Shammah-Lagnado et al. 2000).
Protective neuroendocrine effects of environmental enrichment and voluntary exercise against social isolation: evidence for mediation by limbic structures
Published in Stress, 2019
W. Tang Watanasriyakul, Marigny C. Normann, Oreoluwa I. Akinbo, William Colburn, Ashley Dagner, Angela J. Grippo
Social and environmental stressors activate neuroendocrine processes that mediate stress and emotion, producing elevated corticosterone and altered activity of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), basolateral amygdala (BLA), and bed nucleus of stria terminalis (BNST; Benite-Ribeiro, Santos, & Duarte, 2014; Flak, Solomon, Jankord, Krause, & Herman, 2012; Garrido et al., 2013; Hawley & Leasure, 2012; Herman & Tasker, 2016; Hostinar, Sullivan, & Gunnar, 2014; Laine et al., 2017; Perrotti et al., 2004). However, stimulation from the environment in the form of environmental enrichment (EE) and/or physical exercise may ameliorate the negative effects of social stressors (e.g. Campeau et al., 2010; Grippo et al., 2014; Lehmann & Herkenham, 2011; Lindsay-Smith, Banting, Eime, O'Sullivan, & van Uffelen, 2017; Normann et al., 2018; Watanasriyakul et al., 2018). EE involves exposure to species-specific items and often physical activity, promoting cognitive, sensory, and neural stimulation (van Praag, Kempermann, & Gage, 2000). For instance, EE and exercise can prevent dysfunction in the PVN, BLA, and BNST of animals exposed to chronic stressors (Koe, Ashokan, & Mitra, 2016; Lehmann & Herkenham, 2011; Lin et al., 2015; Nader et al., 2014; Zheng, Sharma, Liu, & Patel, 2012) and may alter hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity via actions in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC; see Hostinar et al., 2014).
Experience and activity-dependent control of glucocorticoid receptors during the stress response in large-scale brain networks
Published in Stress, 2021
Damien Huzard, Virginie Rappeneau, Onno C. Meijer, Chadi Touma, Margarita Arango-Lievano, Michael J. Garabedian, Freddy Jeanneteau
The dynamic activation and termination of the neuroendocrine HPA axis response to stress requires a fine balance of excitation and inhibition across multiple brain regions and cell types, which condition physiological and behavioral adaptation to environmental demands, based on prior experience (Herman et al., 2016). The stress response uses modulators, like noradrenaline, to integrate activity in a network of interconnected forebrain regions including the amygdala, the frontal cortex, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, the hypothalamus, and the hippocampus (Herman, 2013; Ulrich-Lai & Herman, 2009). Tissue and cell type-specific conditional genetic deletion of glucocorticoid receptors further demonstrated that the diversity of glucocorticoid responses on physiological, neuroendocrine and behavioral outcomes depends on the organization and ongoing activity of the neuronal networks involved (Arango-Lievano & Jeanneteau, 2016; Arnett et al., 2016; Scheimann et al., 2018; Whirledge & DeFranco, 2018). This might be explained by a Bayesian process used by the brain to update current information based on prior experience through multiple iterations of neuronal network activation intended to minimize the entropy of various sensory states and predict future outcomes based on value coding (Doya et al., 2007; Ernst et al., 2006).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Amygdala
- Caudate Nucleus
- Lateral Ventricles
- Septal Area
- Ventricular System
- Brain
- Thalamus
- Ventromedial Nucleus of The Hypothalamus
- Superior Thalamostriate Vein
- Interventricular Foramina