Temporary Inactivation of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis But Not of the Amygdala Blocks Freezing Induced by Trimethylthiazoline, a Component of Fox Feces
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Presentation of trimethylthiazoline (TMT, a component of fox feces) to laboratory rats elicits freezing, a prominent behavioral sign of anxiety or fear. The present study investigated the neural basis of this unlearned response. Muscimol, a GABA(A) receptor agonist, was injected (4.4 nmol/0.5 microl) into the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) as well as into the amygdala, two brain areas known to be involved in anxiety and fear. Temporary inactivation of the BNST but not of the amygdala significantly blocked TMT-induced freezing. This effect was not caused by an enhancement of motor activity after BNST inactivation. In addition, these results confirm previous studies showing that freezing is possible despite amygdala inactivation. These results, and other findings in the literature, suggest that the BNST is critically involved in unlearned fear, whereas the amygdala is more involved in the acquisition and expression of learned fear.
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Muscimol infused into the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis decreased sustained freezing in response to the odor of fox feces.
“as well as sustained freezing in response to the odor of fox feces, a rodent predator (Fendt et al, 2003).”
From Phasic vs Sustained Fear in Rats and Humans: Role of the Extended Amygdala in Fear vs Anxiety (2010) · cites this paper as Fendt et al, 2003
The Results (‘Injections of muscimol into the BNST’; page unavailable) report that BNST muscimol blocked the increase in freezing during TMT presentation. The Introduction identifies TMT as a component of fox-feces odor, but the experiment presented TMT rather than the complete odor of fox feces; that distinction is not preserved in the claim. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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References 42 · Cited by 278
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [11]11. Davis M (1996) Differential roles of the amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in conditioned fear and startle enhanced by corticotropin- releasing hormone. In: Perception, memory, and emotion: frontiers in neuroscience (Ono T, McNaughton BL, Molotchnikoff S, Rolls ET, Nishijo H, eds), pp 525-548. Oxford: Elsevier.
- Authors
- Fendt, M., Endres, T., & Apfelbach, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2003-01-01
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 23-28
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC6742150
- OpenAlex
- W2141050240
- Cited by
- 278
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 9.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 550)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, amygdala, freezing behavior, muscimol inactivation, GABA-A receptor agonists, anxiety, learned fear, fear expression
- MeSH terms
- Amygdala, Animals, Anxiety, Behavior, Animal, Conditioning, Psychological, Fear, Feces, Foxes, Injections, Kinetics, Motor Activity, Muscimol, Odorants, Septal Nuclei, Thiazoles, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, GABA Agonists, Rats
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