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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 1, 2026

Social Isolation Model: A Noninvasive Rodent Model of Stress and Anxiety

Social Isolation Model: A Noninvasive Rodent Model of Stress and Anxiety

Published on: November 11, 2022

Distributed circuits underlying anxiety.

Avishek Adhikari¹

¹Deisseroth Laboratory, CNC Program, Bioengineering Department, Stanford University Palo Alto, CA, USA.

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

|April 19, 2014

Summary

Anxiety circuits involve key brain regions like the amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminals (BNST). These areas, along with the medial prefrontal cortex and ventral hippocampus, form a network controlling anxiety in rodents and humans.

Keywords:

BNST amygdala anxiety medial prefrontal cortex ventral hippocampus

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Last Updated: May 1, 2026

Social Isolation Model: A Noninvasive Rodent Model of Stress and Anxiety

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Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance

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Published on: July 19, 2017

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Behavioral Science

Background:

Anxiety is crucial for survival, enabling threat assessment.
Anxiety disorders are common, driving research into their neural basis.

Purpose of the Study:

To review current understanding of neural circuits underlying anxiety.
To integrate findings from rodent models and human studies.

Main Methods:

Review of rodent anxiety paradigms.
Consideration of human neuroimaging and clinical data.

Main Results:

The amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminals (BNST) are central to anxiety modulation.
The BNST utilizes distinct output pathways to influence anxiolysis.
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and ventral hippocampus (vHPC) interact with the amygdala and BNST.

Conclusions:

Anxiety is regulated by a distributed network involving the amygdala, BNST, mPFC, and vHPC.
This network operates similarly in both rodents and humans.