Psychobiology of fear and anxiety

• Grant number: 06/06354-5
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Start date: August 01, 2007
• End date: July 31, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Neuropsychopharmacology
• Principal Investigator: Marcus Lira Brandão
• Grantee: Marcus Lira Brandão
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Adriano Edgar Reimer ; Amanda Ribeiro de Oliveira ; Ana Carolina Garcia Broiz ; Cristina Ferreira Netto ; Janaina Menezes Zanoveli ; Julia Maria dos Santos ; Karina Di Sicco Genaro ; Lucas Albrechet de Souza ; Luciana Chrystine Oliveira ; Milene Cristina de Carvalho

Abstract

We are interested in emphasizing the potential relevance of this field of research for understanding aversive event-induced processes, including fear and anxiety, and perhaps other related consequent problems, such as stress. The challenge will be to establish a neural and behavioral systems approach that can integrate a) for one, the neurochemical systems underlying the processes of aversive stimulation which have been treated in relative isolation, and b) secondly, the neurochemical and anatomical systems that subserve the consequences of aversive information to the organism, including the basic responses to aversive stimulation, such as fight, flight, fear and anxiety. Our purpose in the present proposal is investigate further the general principles that regulate the sensory information input and the behavioral output that animals present in fearful situations as well as the neurochemical mechanisms underlying the aversive responses associated with fear and anxiety. The presentation of these studies is organized in nine groups representing the behavioral (I, II and III), immunohistochemical (IV), sensorimotor (V and VI), electrophysiological (VII) and neurochemical (VIII) approaches to the defense reaction. The last subproject (IX) is an attempt to make a multifaceted approach to the neurobiology of fear so as to produce scientific material with enough impact to contribute decisively to this field of enquiry. (AU)

Scientific publications

(23)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ALBRECHET-SOUZA, L.; BORELLI, K. G.; CARVALHO, M. C.; BRANDAO, M. L.. THE ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX IS A TARGET STRUCTURE FOR THE ANXIOLYTIC-LIKE EFFECTS OF BENZODIAZEPINES ASSESSED BY REPEATED EXPOSURE TO THE ELEVATED PLUS MAZE AND FOS IMMUNOREACTIVITY. Neuroscience, v. 164, n. 2, p. 387-397, DEC 1 2009. (06/06354-5)

BASSI, GABRIEL S.; BROIZ, ANA C.; GOMES, MARGARETE Z.; BRANDAO, MARCUS L.. Evidence for mediation of nociception by injection of the NK-3 receptor agonist, senktide, into the dorsal periaqueductal gray of rats. Psychopharmacology, v. 204, n. 1, p. 13-24, MAY 2009. (06/06354-5, 06/03930-5)

ALBRECHET-SOUZA, LUCAS; BORELLI, KARINA G.; ALMADA, RAFAEL C.; BRANDAO, MARCUS L.. Midazolam reduces the selective activation of the rhinal cortex by contextual fear stimuli. Behavioural Brain Research, v. 216, n. 2, p. 631-638, JAN 20 2011. (06/06354-5)

ZANOVELI, JANAINA M.; BRANDAO, MARCUS L.. The dorsal periaqueductal and basolateral amygdala are necessary for the expression of conditioned place avoidance induced by semicarbazide stimulation of the dorsal periaqueductal region. PROGRESS IN NEURO-PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY, v. 32, n. 7, p. 1715-1721, OCT 1 2008. (06/06354-5)

REIMER‚ A.E.; OLIVEIRA‚ A.R.; BRANDÃO‚ M.L.. Selective involvement of GABAergic mechanisms of the dorsal periaqueductal gray and inferior colliculus on the memory of the contextual fear as assessed by the fear potentiated startle test. Brain Research Bulletin, v. 76, n. 5, p. 545-550, 2008. (06/06354-5)

CARVALHO‚ MC; MASSON‚ S.; BRANDAO‚ ML; DE SOUZA SILVA‚ MA. Anxiolytic-like effects of substance P administration into the dorsal‚ but not ventral‚ hippocampus and its influence on serotonin. Peptides, v. 29, n. 7, p. 1191-1200, 2008. (06/06354-5)

BASSI, GABRIEL S.; NOBRE, MANOEL J.; ARAÚJO, JOÃO E. DE; BRANDÃO, MARCUS L.. Anxiogenic effects of activation of NK-1 receptors of the dorsal periaqueductal gray as assessed by the elevated plus-maze, ultrasound vocalizations and tail-flick tests. Neuropeptides, v. 41, n. 6, p. 365-374, Dec. 2007. (06/06354-5)

BRANDÃO, MARCUS L.; ZANOVELI, JANAÍNA M.; RUIZ-MARTINEZ, RAQUEL C.; OLIVEIRA, LUCIANA C.; LANDEIRA-FERNANDEZ, JESUS. Different patterns of freezing behavior organized in the periaqueductal gray of rats: association with different types of anxiety. Behavioural Brain Research, v. 188, n. 1, p. 1-13, Mar. 2008. (06/06354-5)

BORELLI, KARINA G.; BRANDÃO, MARCUS L.. Effects of ovine CRF injections into the dorsomedial, dorsolateral and lateral columns of the periaqueductal gray: a functional role for the dorsomedial column. Hormones and Behavior, v. 53, n. 1, p. 40-50, Jan. 2008. (06/06354-5)

ADRIANO EDGAR REIMER; AMANDA RIBEIRO DE OLIVEIRA; MARCUS LIRA BRANDÃO. Involvement of GABAergic mechanisms of the dorsal periaqueductal gray and inferior colliculus on unconditioned fear. Psychology & Neuroscience, v. 2, n. 1, p. 51-58, 2009-06-00. (06/06354-5)

CUNHA, JOICE MARIA; ZANOVELI, JANAINA MENEZES; LEDVINKA-FILHO, EDUARDO; BRANDAO, MARCUS LIRA. L-Allylglycine dissociates the neural substrates of fear in the periaqueductal gray of rats. Brain Research Bulletin, v. 81, n. 4-5, p. 416-423, MAR 16 2010. (06/06354-5)

ZANOVELI, JANAINA M.; CARVALHO, MILENE C.; CUNHA, JOICE M.; BRANDAO, MARCUS L.. Extracellular serotonin level in the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala and dorsal periaqueductal gray under unconditioned and conditioned fear states: An in vivo microdialysis study. Brain Research, v. 1294, p. 106-115, OCT 6 2009. (06/06354-5)

ZANOVELI, JANAINA M.; FERREIRA-NETTO, CRISTINA; BRANDÃO, MARCUS L.. Conditioned place aversion organized in the dorsal periaqueductal gray recruits the laterodorsal nucleus of the thalamus and the basolateral amygdala. Experimental Neurology, v. 208, n. 1, p. 127-136, Nov. 2007. (06/06354-5)

BROIZ, ANA CAROLINA; OLIVEIRA, LUCIANA CHRYSTINE; BRANDÃO, MARCUS LIRA. Regulation of conditioned and unconditioned fear in rats by 5-HT1A receptors in the dorsal periaqueductal gray. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, v. 89, n. 1, p. 76-84, Mar. 2008. (06/06354-5)

LUCAS ALBRECHET-SOUZA; MARCUS L BRANDO. Hormonal and cognitive factors associated with the exploratory behavior of rats submitted to repeated sessions of the elevated plus-maze. Psychology & Neuroscience, v. 3, n. 1, p. 43-52, 2010-06-00. (06/06354-5)

ALMADA, RAFAEL C.; BORELLI, KARINA G.; ALBRECHET-SOUZA, LUCAS; BRANDAO, MARCUS L.. Serotonergic mechanisms of the median raphe nucleus-dorsal hippocampus in conditioned fear: Output circuit involves the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. Behavioural Brain Research, v. 203, n. 2, p. 279-287, NOV 5 2009. (06/06354-5)

CARVALHO, MILENE C.; MOREIRA, CAIO M.; ZANOVELI, JANAINA M.; BRANDAO, MARCUS L.. Central, but not basolateral, amygdala involvement in the anxiolytic-like effects of midazolam in rats in the elevated plus maze. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, v. 26, n. 4, p. 543-554, APR 2012. (06/06354-5)

DE OLIVEIRA, AMANDA RIBEIRO; REIMER, ADRIANO EDGAR; BRANDAO, MARCUS LIRA. Role of dopamine receptors in the ventral tegmental area in conditioned fear. Behavioural Brain Research, v. 199, n. 2, p. 271-277, MAY 16 2009. (06/06354-5)

DE OLIVEIRA, AMANDA RIBEIRO; REIMER, ADRIANO EDGAR; ANTUNES DE MACEDO, CARLOS EDUARDO; DE CARVALHO, MILENE CRISTINA; DE SOUZA SILVA, MARIA ANGELICA; BRANDAO, MARCUS LIRA. Conditioned fear is modulated by D-2 receptor pathway connecting the ventral tegmental area and basolateral amygdala. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LEARNING AND MEMORY, v. 95, n. 1, p. 37-45, JAN 2011. (06/06354-5)

MARTINEZ, R. C. R.; OLIVEIRA, A. R.; MACEDO, C. E.; MOLINA, V. A.; BRANDAO, M. L.. Involvement of dopaminergic mechanisms in the nucleus accumbens core and shell subregions in the expression of fear conditioning. Neuroscience Letters, v. 446, n. 2-3, p. 112-116, DEC 3 2008. (06/06354-5)

DE OLIVEIRA, LUCIANA C.; GOMES, MARGARETH Z.; BRANDAO, MARCUS L.. Influence of age on reactivity to diverse emotional challenges in low- and high-anxiety rats. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE, v. 29, n. 1, p. 77-83, FEB 2011. (06/06354-5)

MELO CARVALHO, JULIANA DIAS; DE OLIVEIRA, AMANDA R.; BARBOSA DA SILVA, REGINA CLAUDIA; BRANDAO, MARCUS L.. A comparative study on the effects of the benzodiazepine midazolam and the dopamine agents, apomorphine and sulpiride, on rat behavior in the two-way avoidance test. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, v. 92, n. 2, p. 351-356, APR 2009. (06/06354-5)

SANTOS, JULIA M.; MACEDO, CARLOS E.; BRANDAO, MARCUS L.. Gabaergic mechanisms of hypothalamic nuclei in the expression of conditioned fear. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LEARNING AND MEMORY, v. 90, n. 3, p. 560-568, OCT 2008. (06/06354-5)