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The Journal of Neuroscience, 1999:RC8:1-4
RAPID COMMUNICATION
GABAergic Antagonists Block the Inhibitory Effects of Serotonin
in the Lateral Amygdala: A Mechanism for Modulation of Sensory Inputs
Related to Fear Conditioning
Grace E.
Stutzmann and
Joseph E.
LeDoux
Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York
10003
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ABSTRACT |
Neurons in the lateral amygdala (LA) receive glutamatergic sensory
input from the auditory thalamus and auditory cortex, and these inputs
can be modulated by serotonin (5-HT). In the present study, we examined
whether serotonergic inhibition of glutamatatergic excitation in the LA
occurs via activation of GABAergic interneurons. Single-unit
extracellular activity in the LA was recorded in response to
iontophoretically applied glutamate. Concurrent application of 5-HT
reduced the number of glutamate-evoked action potentials in the
majority of neurons tested. GABA antagonists were then iontophoresed
with both glutamate and 5-HT. Of the neurons that were inhibited by
5-HT, concurrent application of the GABA antagonists significantly
reversed this effect. Application of the GABA antagonists alone had
little or no effect on basal neuronal activity. We conclude that the
5-HT-induced inhibition of glutamatergic activity occurs in part
through activation of serotonergic receptors on GABAergic interneurons.
Key words:
electrophysiology; iontophoresis; rat; glutamate; anxiety; sensory modulation
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INTRODUCTION |
Fear conditioning is widely used as
a model system for understanding how the brain forms and stores
information about aversive emotional experiences. Research on the
neural basis of fear conditioning points to the amygdala as a key
interface between harmful stimuli in the environment and motor systems
that produce defense responses (Davis et al., 1994 ; Fanselow, 1994 ;
LeDoux, 1994 ). Sensory information about stimuli that are harmful enter
the amygdala by way of the lateral nucleus (LA) (LeDoux et al., 1990 ).
The LA, in turn, projects to other amygdala areas (Pitkanen et al.,
1997 ), which control defense responses (see Davis, 1992 ).
The LA receives dense serotonergic inputs from the dorsal raphe
(Sadikot and Parent, 1990 ); several serotonin (5-HT) receptor subtypes
are present in the LA (Radja et al., 1991 ); and 5-HT levels increase in
the LA during amygdala-dependent processes such as fear conditioning
(Inoue et al., 1993 ; Kawahara et al., 1993 ). Given that serotonin is
known to be a widespread modulator of neuronal activity, we recently
examined the contribution of serotonin to the modulation of sensory
processing within the LA (Stutzmann et al., 1998 ). Iontophoresis of
5-HT inhibited the excitation elicited by concurrent iontophoresis of
glutamate or by electrical stimulation of glutamatergic inputs from the
auditory thalamus or auditory cortex. 5-HT-induced inhibition of
synaptic activity could be attributable to a direct inhibitory effect
of 5-HT on excitatory neurons postsynaptic to the sensory afferents or
could be attributable to activation of GABAergic cells through excitatory 5-HT receptors in the LA, which then inhibit excitatory cells. In support of the latter possibility is the observation that
5-HT3 and possibly 5-HT2 receptor subtypes are
present on GABA-containing cells in the LA (Sheldon and Aghajanian,
1990 ; Radja et al., 1991 ; Morales and Bloom, 1997 ). In this study, we used microiontophoresis to locally apply drugs very close to the recording site to examine the role of GABA interneurons in
serotonin-induced inhibition of glutamate activity. If 5-HT inhibits
glutamatergic excitation by way of GABA interneurons, blockade of GABA
receptors should eliminate the inhibition by 5-HT.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Experiments were conducted on male Sprague Dawley rats weighing
250-375 gm. Animals were housed on an alternating 12 hr light/dark cycle (lights on at 7 A.M., lights off at 7 P.M.). Procedures were
performed in accordance with National Institutes of Health guidelines.
Rats were anesthetized with urethane (1.6 mg/kg) and placed in a
stereotaxic frame. The cranium above the LA, medial nucleus of the
medial geniculate/posterior-intralaminar nucleus (MGm/PIN), and
secondary auditory cortex (TE3) regions were exposed, and the dura was
retracted. Electrodes were then placed into the LA using a hydraulic
microdrive, and bipolar stimulating electrodes were manually lowered
into the MGm/PIN region [inserted at a 10° angle in the
anteroposterior (AP) plane] and the TE3 region (inserted in a 20°
angle in the AP plane).
As an additional physiological measure to confirm the location of the
recording electrode, sensory afferents known to project to the LA were
stimulated (Romanski and LeDoux, 1993 ), and evoked action potentials
were recorded. The TE3 and MGm/PIN regions were stimulated with single
pulses (100-800 µA, 0.3 Hz, 300 µsec duration) from a Grass
Instruments (Quincy, MA) 88 constant current stimulator delivered
through a bipolar stimulating electrode (r = 30-40
K ). Electrode stereotaxic coordinates from the interaural line (in millimeters) were as follows: recording electrode, AP, 5.8-6.2; mediolateral (ML), 5.2; and dorsoventral (DV), 6.0-7.0; MGm/PIN stimulating electrode, AP, 3.8; ML, 3.0; and DV, 6.1; and TE3 stimulating electrode, AP, 4.0; ML, 6.8; and DV 3.3 (Paxinos and Watson, 1986 ).
Single-unit recordings were obtained from glass micropipettes (1-3
µm tip diameter, 10-20 M impedance) filled with 2.5% Pontamine sky blue in 0.5 M sodium acetate. Single-unit activity was
amplified, filtered, and discriminated. Undiscriminated output was
viewed on a Tektronix (Wilsonville, OR) storage oscilloscope, and
discriminated output was digitized for the construction of poststimulus
histograms using a Cambridge Electronic Design (Cambridge, UK) 1401 computer interface.
The technique of microiontophoresis was used as a way to effectively
deliver various compounds within the immediate area of the recording
site. With this technique, only very small quantities of drug are
released from the electrode tip via current ejection. This decreases
the possibility that compounds will diffuse far from the neuron
recorded from or into neighboring nuclei (as is seen with local
infusion methods) but does not allow for accurate dose-response
analysis. Microiontophoresis was accomplished by gluing a five-barrel
micropipette (10-20 µm tip diameter) adjacent to the single-barrel
recording electrode with a light curing dental fixative (Silux, 3M, St.
Paul, MN). The tip of the recording pipette extended 15-35 µm beyond
the tip of the iontophoretic pipette. The center barrel was filled with
0.9% saline for automatic current balancing. The remaining barrels
were filled with glutamate (L-glutamic acid, 10 mM, pH 8.0, 5.0 to 30 nA ejection current, 10 nA
holding current), serotonin (serotonin creatinine sulfate, 20 mM, pH 4.0, 10-80 nA ejection current, 10 nA holding
current), bicuculline methiodide (5 mM, pH 3.5, 20-80 nA
ejection current), and 2-OH-saclofen (20 mM, pH 3.5, 20-80
nA ejection current). Bicuculline methiodide and 2-OH-saclofen were
placed in the same electrode barrel. Drugs were purchased from Research
Biochemicals (Natick, MA).
Placements of recording sites were marked by iontophoretically
depositing Pontamine sky blue or locating the electrode tracks in the
LA. Animals were perfused with 10% formalin and post-fixed, and brains
were cut on a sliding microtome into 50-µm-thick sections. Sections
were Nissl-stained and coverslipped, and the location of the dye spot
or electrode tracks was determined under light microscopic examination.
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RESULTS |
Neurons in the LA were either silent or had low firing rates (<1
Hz), as is typical for this region (Clugnet et al., 1990 ). LA neurons
were therefore identified via synaptic stimulation from the MGm/PIN and
TE3. Iontophoretic application of glutamate was then used to evoke
action potentials in these LA neurons that were postsynaptic to the
MGm/PIN and/or TE3. A representative distribution of the recording
sites and relevant amygdala nuclei are shown in a Gisma-stained coronal
section in Figure 1.

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Figure 1.
Gisma-stained coronal section of the rat brain,
showing the region containing the lateral amygdala and representative
electrode recording sites. Also outlined are the basal
(B) and central nuclei of the amygdala
(CeA).
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The effects of iontophoretically applied 5-HT were tested on neurons
activated via glutamate application. After accumulating spikes during
this control period, 5-HT was concurrently applied during these
conditions, and the total number of spikes was again analyzed and
compared with the control period. GABA antagonists were then
iontophoresed in conjunction with glutamate and 5-HT, and the number of
spikes evoked was analyzed during this phase and compared with the
original firing rates during glutamate alone and the presence of 5-HT
and glutamate together.
Of the 37 neurons activated by glutamate, 32 were inhibited by the
concurrent application of 5-HT. The criterion for inhibition was set at
33% reduction in the number of spikes relative to before 5-HT
application. In the majority of these neurons, the inhibitory effects
of 5-HT were attenuated by the coadministration of GABAergic antagonists, whereas six neurons had no response. Representative histograms demonstrating typical responses of single neurons are shown
in Figure 2. Figure
3 shows the group data for the average number of spikes evoked during each drug condition over a 1 min period.
A one-way ANOVA demonstrates a significant difference in the number of
spikes evoked among drug application groups
(F(2) = 6.14; p < 0.01).
Newman-Keuls post hoc analysis demonstrated that the 5-HT
group differs significantly from the glutamate
(p < 0.01) and glutamate-5-HT-GABA antagonist
group (p < 0.01), whereas the glutamate and
glutamate-5-HT-GABA antagonist groups are not significantly
different.

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Figure 2.
Time histograms of glutamate-evoked spikes over a
1 min period, inhibition by 5-HT when released with glutamate, and the
reversal of this effect with the addition of GABA antagonists.
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Figure 3.
Bar graph demonstrating number of spikes evoked
during various iontophoretically applied compounds. Glutamate
(Glu) evoked action potentials in normally quiescent
lateral amygdala neurons, and coapplication of 5-HT inhibited this
effect. The additional application of GABAA and
GABAB antagonists reversed the inhibitory effects of
5-HT.
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In several of the neurons that showed a reversal of 5-HT inhibition,
glutamate and the GABA antagonists were iontophoresed together to
ensure that blockade of the GABA receptors was not enhancing excitatory
activity on its own (n = 11). A two-tailed paired
t test indicates these conditions are not significantly different (t(10) = 1.18; p > 0.05). In several of these neurons, the GABA antagonists were
iontophoresed alone (n = 13) to ensure that spontaneous
activity was not affected. Consistent with the results of Li et al.
(1996) , there was no change from the normally quiescent state of these
neurons with blockade of the GABA receptors.
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DISCUSSION |
The purpose of this study was to examine interactions among
glutamatergic sensory afferents, GABAergic interneurons, and
serotonergic inputs to LA cells. The results suggest that glutamatergic
inputs to the LA can be modulated by 5-HT through activation of
GABAergic interneurons. 5-HT, when locally applied to
glutamate-activated neurons, inhibits this excitatory input, and
blockade of GABA receptors reverses this effect in many of the neurons
tested. This modulation can potentially have significant effects on the overall flow of information conducted through the amygdala and thereby
influence the ability of the amygdala to control autonomic, endocrine,
and behavioral responses normally elicited by threatening stimuli.
GABA antagonists reverse the inhibitory effects of 5-HT
The amygdala is highly modulated by GABA. It contains both
GABAA and GABAB receptors (Bowery et al.,
1987 ), GABAergic interneurons (McDonald, 1985 ) and 5-HT receptors
anatomically and physiologically involved in GABAergic activation
(Gellman and Aghajanian, 1994 ; Morales and Bloom, 1997 ). Previous work
has demonstrated that glutamate activation of LA neurons can be
inhibited by local serotonin release and that this depends on adrenal
glucocorticoid hormones (Stutzmann et al., 1998 ). The present study
implicates GABAergic neurons in this inhibition. Iontophoretic
application of GABA antagonists attenuated the inhibitory effects of
5-HT, returning glutamate-evoked neuronal activity to within baseline
levels in many LA neurons. It should be noted that other regulatory
mechanisms are likely used in the LA, because not all neurons inhibited
by 5-HT were reversed by GABA blockade.
5-HT/GABAergic modulation in other brain regions
Several recent studies examined 5-HT modulation of glutamate
transmission elsewhere in the brain and have proposed a similar mechanism for the modulation of sensory input to the LA. The
hippocampus has been examined in detail. Median raphe serotonergic
neurons heavily innervate GABAergic interneurons in the CA1 region of the hippocampus (Moore and Halaris, 1975 ), and in these GABAergic neurons, serotonin facilitates inhibitory transmission through activation of the 5-HT3 receptor subtype, suppressing the
firing of CA1 pyramidal cells (Ropert and Guy, 1991 ). In addition,
neurons of the cerebellar nuclei receive a serotonergic input, which
suppresses excitatory amino acid-induced activity, as well as
potentiating the inhibitory effects of GABA (Kitzman and Bishop,
1997 ).
Proposed circuitry model
The results of this study suggest that excitatory serotonin
receptors activate GABAergic neurons, which locally regulate LA neurons
receiving glutamatergic sensory afferents. A schematic of the proposed
connections is presented in Figure 4.
Stimuli (including environmental stressors) that increase 5-HT levels in the amygdala would activate 5-HT receptors on GABAergic neurons, facilitating GABAergic release onto LA projection neurons.

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Figure 4.
Schematic illustrating possible modulatory
mechanisms of sensory input to the LA. Glutamatergic auditory afferents
impinge on LA projections neurons containing both glutamate and GABA
receptors and GABAergic interneurons. Interneurons containing the
5-HT3 or 5-HT2 receptor receive a serotonergic
input from the dorsal raphe nucleus. Activation of these excitatory
receptors increases GABA release onto projection neurons, inhibiting
activation from sensory afferents. The net effect is a reduction in
sensory transmission to the central nucleus.
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Clinical implications
Dysfunctions in the 5-HT system have been linked to multiple
anxiety and stress disorders (Eison and Eison, 1994 ), and this connection is consistent with malfunctioning of serotonergic modulation in the amygdala (Gargiulo et al., 1996 ; Liang, 1998 ). Decreased serotonergic functioning might result in deficient GABAergic modulation of excitatory sensory afferents, perhaps allowing innocuous sensory signals to be processed through the LA as emotionally stimulating events. Overall, the net effect of 5-HT acting through GABAergic mechanisms in the LA appears to be inhibitory and may therefore serve
as a modulator of affective sensory processing.
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FOOTNOTES |
Received Dec. 18, 1998; revised March 10, 1999; accepted March 12, 1999.
This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grants
RO1-MH46516 and 1K02-M H00956 and the W. M. Keck Foundation.
Correspondence should be addressed to Joseph E. LeDoux, Center for
Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, Room 808, New
York, NY 10003.
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Copyright © 1999 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/99/$05.00/0
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