Optogenetic dissection of amygdala and extended amygdala circuits in the anxious state
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Anxiety, a sustained state of apprehension in the absence of a specific and imminent threat, is critical for an organism to survive in an environment with unpredictable risks. In disease states, however, anxiety becomes severely debilitating; anxiety disorders represent the most common psychiatric diseases (28% lifetime prevalence). Despite the high prevalence of anxiety disorders, current treatments are often ineffective and have severe side-effects, such as addiction, pointing to the need for a deeper understanding of anxiety circuits. The amygdala and extended amygdala have long been hypothesized to play a central role in anxiety, but the function of the intra- and inter-connections of the amygdala and extended amygdala circuits are unclear, largely due to the lack of appropriate tools. With the advent of optogenetics, which was pioneered in the Deisseroth lab, and with the evolution of virus- or promoter-based targeting strategies, it is now possible to manipulate a specific circuit element with unprecedented precision and to identify its function in behavior. The first part of this thesis illustrates the application of optogenetics to identify an intra-amygdala circuit element that decreases anxiety. The second part explores the functional circuitry of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a key component of the extended amygdala. We studied the roles of its input from the amygdala and outputs to the hypothalamus and brainstem areas in the anxious state. Here, the term 'anxious state' is used to emphasize that anxiety is a behavioral state consisting of distinct features, such as behavioral risk-avoidance and changes in respiration rate. We sought to find circuit elements mediating each distinct feature of the anxious state. The data provided by this thesis furthers our understanding of the function and dysfunction of anxiety circuitry. The approach that we employed here for functional circuit mapping may be applicable to the dissection of other behavioral states, such as fear and aggression.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2013 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Kim, Sung-Yon, (Neuroscientist) |
|---|---|
| Primary advisor | Deisseroth, Karl |
| Thesis advisor | Deisseroth, Karl |
| Thesis advisor | Hestrin, Shaul |
| Thesis advisor | Knudsen, Eric I |
| Thesis advisor | Luo, Liqun, 1966- |
| Advisor | Hestrin, Shaul |
| Advisor | Knudsen, Eric I |
| Advisor | Luo, Liqun, 1966- |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Neurosciences. |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Sung-Yon Kim. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Neurosciences. |
| Thesis | Ph.D. Stanford University 2013 |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2013 by Sung-Yon Kim
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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