Decreased experimental anxiety and voluntary ethanol consumption in rats following central but not basolateral amygdala lesions
Abstract
A long-debated 'tension reduction' hypothesis postulates anti-anxiety effects to be important for ethanol reward, and states that elevated anxiety levels might predispose for ethanol consumption and addiction. Human data are contradictory, possibly due to heterogeneity of patient samples. In rats, baseline levels of experimental anxiety have been reported to correlate with voluntary ethanol consumption. Here, we addressed the possibility that mechanisms underlying experimental anxiety might be causally related to regulation of voluntary ethanol intake. Rats were bilaterally lesioned in central amygdala using microinjections of ibotenic acid. This resulted in a robust release of punished drinking in a modified Vogel conflict test, an effect typically seen with anxiety reducing drugs. This effect was specific, as unpunished drinking was unaffected by the lesion. On the elevated plus-maze, central amygdala lesions did not affect behaviour under baseline conditions, but attenuated the anxiogenic effect of restraint stress. Measures of locomotor activity were not affected. Voluntary ethanol consumption was examined in a two-bottle, free choice paradigm. Ethanol intake was markedly decreased in the lesion group. Total fluid intake was not affected. Basolateral amygdala lesions, which did not affect conflict behaviour, also left ethanol intake unaffected. These results are consistent with previous reports of an important role for central amygdala in anxiety related behaviours, and suggest that cell bodies located in central amygdala might be important in this context. Further, our results support a relation between experimental anxiety and voluntary ethanol consumption.
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The central amygdala nucleus (CEA) has been implicated in learning and expression of fear responses, as well as the expression of stress-induced anxiety behaviors.
“Functionally, CEA has been implicated in learning and expression of fear responses,105, 106, 107 as well as the expression of stress-induced anxiety behaviors.108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113”
From Preferential loss of dorsal-hippocampus synapses underlies memory impairments provoked by short, multimodal stress (2014) · cites this paper as [110]
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“CeA While initial CeA lesion studies reported markedly reduced ethanol intake (Dhaher et al., 2008, Moller et al., 1997), but no effect on escalated ethanol consumption after repeated cycles of ethanol vapor (CIE) (Dhaher et al., 2008), several subsequent studies have demonstrated a role for the…”
Background
- Authors
- Möller, C., Wiklund, L., Sommer, W., Thorsell, A., & Heilig, M.
- Affiliations
- Karolinska University Hospital (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Heilig, Markus
- Venue
- Brain Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1997-06
- Volume
- 760
- Issue
- 1-2
- Pages
- 94-101
- ISSN
- 0006-8993 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2002100291
- Cited by
- 229
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 2.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Brain Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Vetenskapsrådet
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Keywords
- central amygdala, basolateral amygdala, voluntary ethanol consumption, ethanol reward, Vogel conflict test, restraint stress, ibotenic acid lesions, ethanol addiction, two-bottle choice
- MeSH terms
- Alcohol Drinking, Amygdala, Animals, Anxiety, Disease Models, Animal, Male, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Maze Learning, Rats
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