Peripheral effects of vagus nerve stimulation on anxiety and extinction of conditioned fear in rats

Autor: Kathleen K. Callahan, Rimenez R. Souza, Lindsey J. Noble, Ashleigh Chuah, Christa K. McIntyre
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Male
Elevated plus maze
Vagus Nerve Stimulation
medicine.drug_class
Cognitive Neuroscience
medicine.medical_treatment
Conditioning
Classical
Models
Neurological
Stimulation
Muscarinic Antagonists
Anxiety
Models
Psychological
Efferent Pathways
Anxiolytic
Extinction
Psychological
Rats
Sprague-Dawley
03 medical and health sciences
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
0302 clinical medicine
Parasympathetic Nervous System
Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor
Animals
Medicine
Freezing Reaction
Cataleptic
Maze Learning
Electroshock
business.industry
Research
Fear
Extinction (psychology)
N-Methylscopolamine
Receptors
Muscarinic
Conditioned place preference
Electrodes
Implanted
Rats
Vagus nerve
Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
Exploratory Behavior
business
Neuroscience
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Vagus nerve stimulation
Zdroj: Learn Mem
ISSN: 1549-5485
DOI: 10.1101/lm.048447.118
Popis: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) enhances extinction of conditioned fear in rats. Previous findings support the hypothesis that VNS effects on extinction are due to enhanced consolidation of extinction memories through promotion of plasticity in extinction-related brain pathways however, alternative explanations are plausible. According to one hypothesis, VNS may produce a hedonic effect and enhance extinction through counter-conditioning. According to another hypothesis, VNS reduces anxiety during exposure and this weakens the association of conditioned stimuli with aversive conditioned responses. The present set of experiments (1) used conditioned place preference (CPP) to identify potential rewarding effects associated with VNS and (2) examined the peripheral effects of VNS on anxiety and extinction enhancement. Male Sprague–Dawley rats were surgically implanted with cuff electrodes around the vagus nerve and subjected to a CPP task in which VNS and sham stimulation were each paired with one of two distinct contexts over the course of 5 d. Following this procedure, rats did not show a place preference, suggesting that VNS is not rewarding or aversive. The role of the peripheral parasympathetic system in the anxiolytic effect of VNS on the elevated plus maze was examined by blocking peripheral muscarinic receptors with intraperitoneal administration of methyl scopolamine prior to VNS. Methyl scopolamine blocked the VNS-induced reduction in anxiety but did not interfere with VNS enhancement of extinction of conditioned fear, indicating that the anxiety-reducing effect of VNS is not necessary for the extinction enhancement.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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