The DOI matches its Crossref record; 163 of the 163 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Basolateral amygdala and stress-induced hyperexcitability affect motivated behaviors and addiction
Open accessAbstract
The amygdala integrates and processes incoming information pertinent to reward and to emotions such as fear and anxiety that promote survival by warning of potential danger. Basolateral amygdala (BLA) communicates bi-directionally with brain regions affecting cognition, motivation and stress responses including prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens and hindbrain regions that trigger norepinephrine-mediated stress responses. Disruption of intrinsic amygdala and BLA regulatory neurocircuits is often caused by dysfunctional neuroplasticity frequently due to molecular alterations in local GABAergic circuits and principal glutamatergic output neurons. Changes in local regulation of BLA excitability underlie behavioral disturbances characteristic of disorders including post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and stress-induced relapse to drug use. In this Review, we discuss molecular mechanisms and neural circuits that regulate physiological and stress-induced dysfunction of BLA/amygdala and its principal output neurons. We consider effects of stress on motivated behaviors that depend on BLA; these include drug taking and drug seeking, with emphasis on nicotine-dependent behaviors. Throughout, we take a translational approach by integrating decades of addiction research on animal models and human trials. We show that changes in BLA function identified in animal addiction models illuminate human brain imaging and behavioral studies by more precisely delineating BLA mechanisms. In summary, BLA is required to promote responding for natural reward and respond to second-order drug-conditioned cues; reinstate cue-dependent drug seeking; express stress-enhanced reacquisition of nicotine intake; and drive anxiety and fear. Converging evidence indicates that chronic stress causes BLA principal output neurons to become hyperexcitable.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“The stress-induced attenuation of BLA→DMS activity was surprising because the BLA is, generally, hyperactive following chronic stress54–61 (c.f.62).”
From A dual-pathway architecture for stress to disrupt agency and promote habit (2025) · cites this paper as [59]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
da Luz, A. C. D. D. S., Dias, G. P., Bevilaqua, M. C. D. N., Cocks, G. D., Gardino, P. F., Thuret, S., & Nardi, A. E. (2013) · Neuropsychobiology · doi:10.1159/000353269 · Cited by 4,015
Egan, M. F., Kojima, M., Callicott, J. H., Goldberg, T. E., Kolachana, B. S., Bertolino, A., Zaitsev, E., Gold, B., Goldman, D., Dean, M., et al. (2003) · Cell · doi:10.1016/s0092-8674(03)00035-7 · Cited by 3,888
Bardo, M. T., & Hammer, R. P. (1991) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/0306-4522(91)90226-e · Cited by 3,229
Krishnan, V., Han, M.-H., Graham, D. L., Berton, O., Renthal, W., Russo, S. J., LaPlant, Q., Graham, A., Lutter, M., Lagace, D. C., et al. (2007) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2007.09.018 · Cited by 2,307
Whalen, P. J., Rauch, S. L., Etcoff, N. L., McInerney, S. C., Lee, M. B., & Jenike, M. A. (1998) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.18-01-00411.1998 · Cited by 2,205
The Amygdaloid Complex: Anatomy and Physiology
SAH, P., FABER, E. S. L., LOPEZ DE ARMENTIA, M., & POWER, J. (2003) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.00002.2003 · Cited by 1,745
The reinstatement model of drug relapse: history, methodology and major findings
Shaham, Y., Shalev, U., Lu, L., de Wit, H., & Stewart, J. (2003) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-002-1224-x · Cited by 1,615
Goal-directed instrumental action: contingency and incentive learning and their cortical substrates
Balleine, B. W., & Dickinson, A. (1998) · Neuropharmacology · doi:10.1016/s0028-3908(98)00033-1 · Cited by 1,541
Joëls, M., & Baram, T. Z. (2009) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2632 · Cited by 1,521
Rauch, S. L., Shin, L. M., & Phelps, E. A. (2006) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.06.004 · Cited by 1,397
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Martin BS, Corbin JG, Huntsman MM . Deficient tonic GABAergic conductance and synaptic balance in the fragile X syndrome amygdala. J Neurophysiol 2014; 112: 891–902. · DOI
- Fallon J, Ciofi P . Distribution of Monoamines within the Amygdala. IA J (ed). Academic Press: New York, 1992.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–244 of 244
Meftahi, G. H., Jangravi, Z., Taghdir, M., Sepandi, M., & Bahari, Z. (2021) · Brain Research Bulletin · doi:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2021.09.007 · Cited by 1
Selecting Anxiety: The Central Extended Amygdala as an Arbiter of Emotion-Relevant Responses
Holley, D., & Fox, D. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-77967-1_5 · Cited by 1
Neuroethical Issues in Times of Health Crisis. What Roles for Neurosciences, IA, Neurotechnologies?Preprint
Tabouy, L. (2020) · Preprints.org · doi:10.20944/preprints202006.0192.v1 · Cited by 1
“The dialogue between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala plays a role in the reaction of certain emotions and the regulation of stress, in the choice of behavior by evaluating different options, and in making a link between emotions and the meaning of things [35].”
BackgroundThe mouse brain after foot-shock in 4D: temporal dynamics at a single-cell resolutionPreprint
Bonapersona, V., Schuler, H., Damsteegt, R., Adolfs, Y., Pasterkamp, R. J., van den Heuvel, M. P., Joëls, M., & Sarabdjitsingh, R. A. (2021) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2021.05.03.442441 · Cited by 1
Zeicu, C., Legouhy, A., Scott, C. A., Oliveira, J. F. A., Winston, G. P., Duncan, J. S., Vos, S. B., Thom, M., Lhatoo, S. D., Zhang, H. G., et al. (2023) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2023.03.16.23287369 · Cited by 1
“Although the 351 pathological changes related to the volume increases have yet to be described, a 352 variety of processes may underly the changes, including gliosis (29), inflammation 353 causing neuronal architecture disruption (30) or excitotoxic injury (31).”
BackgroundCell-Specific Disruptions in the Basolateral Amygdala-Accumbens Pathway of Fragile X mousePreprint
Giua, G., Lassalle, O., Chavis, P., & Manzoni, O. J. (2023) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2023.08.01.551430 · Cited by 1
Coping switches stress–evoked network disconnection to a new forebrain network statePreprint
Durieux, L., Herbeaux, K., Totah, N. K. B., & Lecourtier, L. (2024) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2024.08.19.607747 · Cited by 1
“…to stress, including the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis(de Kloet, 1992) , (de Kloet et al., 1999), the noradrenergic system(Pace and Myers, 2023), the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)(McKlveen et al., 2015), the hippocampus (HPC)(Suri and Vaidya, 2015), and the amygdala (AMY)(Sharp, 2017).”
BackgroundPKU tags, novel genetically encoded shape tags for cell labeling in light and electron microscopyPreprint
Sun, R., Yang, P., Wang, L. L., Hu, Y., Yang, Y., Deng, F., Li, S., Fan, M., Xia, X., & Li, Y. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.11.25.690457 · Cited by 1
Long-term Hippocampal and Amydalar Dendritic Spine Alterations after Adolescence Psychosocial StressPreprint
Vafadari, B., Mitra, S., & Kaczmarek, L. (2021) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-213488/v1
“Outputs from BLA neurons play important role in influencing the regulation and function of brain regions such as prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens and hindbrain, which are implicated in cognition and motivation (Sharp 2017).”
BackgroundZhou, Y., He, Y., Jin, Y., Rong, B., Zeidman, P., Huang, H., Feng, Y., Cui, J., Zhang, S., Wang, Y., et al. (2021) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2021.07.26.21261160
“…disturbances in stress-related psychiatric disorders or stress-induced behaviors (e.g., relapse to drug use) (Prager et al. 2016, Sharp 2017) and chronic stress causes amygdala output neurons to become hyperexcitable (Roozendaal et al. 2009, Rosenkranz et al. 2010, Sharp 2017, Zhang et al. 2019).”
BackgroundRole of microRNA-132 in Opioid Addiction through Modification of Neural Stem Cell Differentiation
Fauser, A.-M., Stidham, E., Cady, C., & Gupta, A. (2022) · Journal of Personalized Medicine · doi:10.3390/jpm12111800
“Various studies have underscored the role of the synaptic alterations in the hippocampus by stimulants in the association of pleasure with drug-associated memories and eventual addiction to the drug [20,21].”
BackgroundPresión científica para publicar: ¿un TOC o un comportamiento adictivo similar al del juego?
Chirumbolo, S., & Bjørklund, G. (2022) · Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría · doi:10.1016/j.rcp.2022.10.010 · Cited by 1
Modulação da plasticidade sináptica por TREK-1 e 5HT>sub<1A>/sub< no estresse crônico pós-natal.
de Oliveira, J. F. (2020) · Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo) · doi:10.11606/t.42.2020.tde-23092021-134813
Lai, C., & Chang, C. (2023) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1252868
“This result further supported the idea that down-regulation of the DA population activity following BLA activation would suppress the reward system (Belujon and Grace, 2015, 2017).”
BackgroundResultMar'in, G. G., Medvedeva, E. A., Usol'ceva, N. I., Gorbeshko, G. A., Свитич, О. А., Zykov, K. A., Плоскирева, А. А., Назаров, Д. А., Kinkulkina, M. A., Romanova, K. G., et al. (2023) · Russian Medical Inquiry · doi:10.32364/2587-6821-2023-7-11-6
Ryazantseva, M., Liiwand, M., & Lauri, S. E. (2024) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2024.01.15.575620
Pan, J. Y., Hung, P.-J., Liu, J.-S., Kozłowska, A., Cheng, C.-N., & Huang, A. C. W. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4769666
Dehghani, A., Meftahi, G. H., & Sahraei, H. (2024) · Behavioural Pharmacology · doi:10.1097/fbp.0000000000000796
“Noradrenergic afferents from the locus coeruleus and nucleus of the solitary tract densely innervate the amygdala (Sharp, 2017).”
Sahagian, T. J., Harden, S. W., Bizon, J. L., Setlow, B., & Frazier, C. J. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.03.14.643393
Sex-Specific Neural Adaptations to Acute and Chronic Restraint Stress in MicePreprint
Li, A., McGraw, M., Landsparger, H., Benjamin, L., & Qualls‐Creekmore, E. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.05.20.655203
Coping Switches Stress-Evoked Network Disconnection to a New Forebrain Network StatePreprint
Lecourtier, L., Durieux, L., Herbeaux, K., & Totah, N. K. B. (2025) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5266099
Coping Switches Stress-Evoked Network Disconnection to a New Forebrain Network StatePreprint
Lecourtier, L., Durieux, L., Herbeaux, K., & Totah, N. K. B. (2025) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5266102
Coping Switches Stress-Evoked Network Disconnection to a New Forebrain Network StatePreprint
Lecourtier, L., Durieux, L., Herbeaux, K., & Totah, N. K. B. (2025) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5270712
Jacobskind, J. S. (2021) · Scholars Archive - University at Albany (University at Albany, State University of New York) · doi:10.54014/aqje-q7ge
Sahagian, T. J., Harden, S. W., Bizon, J. L., Setlow, B., & Frazier, C. J. (2025) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · doi:10.3389/fncel.2025.1634594
“…Sahagian et al. 10.3389/fncel.2025.1634594 Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience 02 frontiersin.org mechanisms that mediate information processing through the BLA remain incompletely understood (Sharp, 2017; Buades-Rotger et al., 2019; Patel et al., 2018; Hosie et al., 2018; Winstanley et al., 2004).”
InfluentialAdditional file 1 of Loss of calsyntenin paralogs disrupts interneuron stability and mouse behavior
Mori, K., Koebis, M., Nakao, K., Kobayashi, S., Kiyama, Y., Watanabe, M., Manabe, T., Iino, Y., & Aiba, A. (2022) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.19351140
Maddern, X. J., Pearl, A. J., Tan, Q., Dempsey, H., Ursich, L. T., Huckstep, K. L., Richards, B. K., Anversa, R. G., Campbell, E. J., Lawrence, A. J., et al. (2026) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.64898/2026.02.10.705193
“As the BLA is a critical central processing hub with multiple anatomically and functionally distinct efferent projections implicated in reward, motivation and anxiety (43-46), we assessed involvement of discrete BLA efferent projections.”
Amygdala reactivity to social stress in young adults: A scoping review of neuroimaging studies
Nassar, M., Harati, H., Estephan, E., Ahmar, E. A., Saab, L., & Saab, M. (2026) · Neurobiology of Stress · doi:10.1016/j.ynstr.2026.100805
“Neuromodulatory systems, including norepinephrine and dopamine, further shape amygdala responsivity, particularly within the basolateral complex (Sharp, 2017), and may contribute to individual variability in stress-related amygdala-prefrontal dynamics observed in functional neuroimaging studies.”
Différences sexuelles dans les synapses excitatrices de l’amygdale basolatérale de rat
Guily, P. (2021) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/3ce7db18z6a11z4e26z940fze421cc5e9733
Socio-communicative and nucleus accumbens core dysfunctions in fragile X syndrome
Giua, G. (2023) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/e45d048ez2538z4905zba74z1de16201406a
Perez‐Perez, Y., Silva, R. J. M., Rodriguez-Torres, G., Ruiz-Villalobos, R. I., Rivera-Velez, J. C., Arlequin-Torres, E. G., Vera-Torres, E. M., Godoy, L. J., Fazal, S. I., Rivera-Aviles, N., et al. (2026) · Psychiatry International · doi:10.3390/psychiatryint7020085
“Another brain region that plays an important role in both trauma-related disorders and the associative learning of drug-seeking behavior is the basolateral amygdala (BLA) [58–64], which is involved in the expression, retrieval, and extinction of conditioned threat memories [65,66].”
Impact of impaired endogenous neurosteroidogenesis on outcomes following chronic alcohol exposure
Blandino, K. L., He, Y., Htet, L., Okoudjou, F., Lee, J., Chinatti, M., Ahn, K., Lewis, M., Gray, S., Miczek, K. A., et al. (2026) · Alcohol · doi:10.1016/j.alcohol.2026.04.008
Teimouri, M., Motaghi, S., Abbasnejad, M., & Zamyad, M. (2026) · Nutritional Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/1028415x.2026.2677634
Shen, Z., Weng, Y., Xia, Z., Zhao, Y., Ding, Q., Wang, S.-Y., Cao, T., Chen, X., Tao, W., Shen, L., et al. (2026) · Advanced Science · doi:10.1002/advs.76302
Liang, Y., Hou, R., Wu, L., Jin, Y., Tang, R., Guo, Y., Chen, X., & Li, J. (2026) · Neural Plasticity · doi:10.1155/np/7203336
Cotella, E. M., Moloney, R. D., Mahbod, P., Martelle, S. E., Morano, R. L., Packard, B. A., & Herman, J. P. (2026) · Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fncel.2026.1876565
“…and projection-defined populations, whose activity can exert distinct, even opposing, effects on emotional behavior (Felix-Ortiz et al., 2015; Sharp, 2017; Daviu et al., 2019) In this context, long-term downregulation of PACAP, α 1D adrenergic receptor, and proenkephalin in the BLA may…”
Maddern, X. J., Pearl, A. J., Tan, Q., Dempsey, H., Ursich, L. T., Huckstep, K. L., Richards, B. K., Anversa, R. G., Lawrence, A. J., Campbell, E. J., et al. (2026) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/s41386-026-02513-z
A prefrontal peptidergic circuit for psychogenic itch
Zhang, S., Qi, Z., Luo, H., Tian, C., Cai, F., Hu, J., & Xie, J. (2026) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.aed8901
“…and is positioned to convey arousal-related and attention-related signals to cortical networks ( 45 – 48 ), In contrast, the BLA processes stress-related emotional cues and encodes negative valence, making it a critical node for translating affective states into behavioral output ( 49 – 54 ).”
Ehrlich, I., & Lauri, S. E. (2026) · Trends in Neurosciences · doi:10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.001
Huang, Y., Russo, M. A., Drummond, P. D., Georgius, P., Crawford, L. S., Wake, A. H., Wong, R., Macefield, V. G., Fenech, C. E., Christelis, N., et al. (2026) · Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2026.106443
Aguilar‐Valles, A., Rodrigue, B., VanderZwaag, J., Carroll, A., Canning, K., Parkhill, M., Rock, T., Sajish, M., SCHIMMEL, P. R., Sonenberg, N., et al. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-11040928/v1
Metadata
- Authors
- Sharp, B. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Tennessee Health Science Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sharp, B M
- ORCID
- Sharp, B M
- Venue
- Translational Psychiatry
- Published
- 2017-08-08
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- e1194-e1194
- ISSN
- 2158-3188 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5611728
- OpenAlex
- W2743494055
- Cited by
- 244
- References
- 160
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 2.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Translational Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- 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
- basolateral amygdala, motivated behavior, addiction, nicotine dependence, drug-seeking behavior, drug relapse, chronic stress, principal neurons, GABAergic circuits, anxiety, fear, post-traumatic stress disorder, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, cue reactivity
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Humans, Motivation, Neurons, Stress, Psychological, Behavior, Addictive, Drug-Seeking Behavior, Basolateral Nuclear Complex
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
