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Optogenetic Manipulation of Neuronal Activity to Modulate Behavior in Freely Moving Mice
Published on: October 27, 2020
Modulation of anxiety circuits by serotonergic systems
Christopher A Lowry1, Philip L Johnson, Anders Hay-Schmidt
1Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Integrative Neuroscience and Endocrinology, University of Bristol, Dorothy Hodgkin Building, Whitson Street, Bristol BS1 3NY, UK. c.a.lowry@bristol.ac.uk
Abstract:
Anxiety is a complex emotional state associated with sustained heightened autonomic and behavioral arousal and an increase in avoidance behavior. Anxiety-related behavior is a form of risk assessment behavior that is associated with a level of uncertainty or unpredictability regarding the outcome of emotionally salient events, often when both rewarding and aversive outcomes are possible. In this review, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of the neural circuits regulating anxiety states and anxiety-related behavior with an emphasis on the role of brainstem serotonergic systems in modulating anxiety-related circuits. In particular, we explore the possibility that the regulation of anxiety states and anxiety-related behavior by serotonergic systems is dependent on a specific, topographically organized mesolimbocortical serotonergic system that originates in the mid-rostrocaudal and caudal parts of the dorsal raphe nucleus.
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