Study of glutamatergic pathways from the medial amygdala on ventromedial hypothalamus endocannabinoid signalling during the defensive behaviour elicited by mice threatened by venomous snakes

• Grant number: 17/22647-7
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2018
• Effective date (End): January 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal researcher: Norberto Cysne Coimbra
• Grantee: Tayllon dos Anjos Garcia
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The amygdaloid complex and the ventromedial hypothalamus have been implicated in the control of unconditioned fear-related behaviours. The present approach is focused on the role played by connections between telencephalic structures to the diencephalon, such as inputs from the medial nucleus of the amygdaloid complex to the ventromedial hypothalamus involved in the genesis of panic-related behavioural responses. The aim of the present work is to clarify how the medial amygdala could process informations from aversive stimuli and modulate the ventromedial hypothalamus, highlighting the relevance of the pvMEA and the pBMA amygdaloid nuclei and the dorsomedial division of the ventromedial hypothalamus (dmVMH) in the modulation of neural circuits underlying the generation of the defensive behaviour in a dangerous environment. The endocannabinoid neuromodulation of amygdala-hypothalamic connexions will be addressed, using both morphological and pharmacological techniques. Thus, the hypothesis of the present work is that glutamatergic inputs from the pvMEA and pBMA to dmVMH modulate, through endocannabinoid mechanisms via CB1 receptors, panic attack-like responses.

Scientific publications

(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)

DOS ANJOS-GARCIA, TAYLLON; COIMBRA, NORBERTO CYSNE. Anandamide in the anterior hypothalamus diminishes defensive responses elicited in mice threatened by Epicrates cenchria constrictor serpents. ACTA NEUROBIOLOGIAE EXPERIMENTALIS, v. 80, n. 2, p. 179-191, 2020. Web of Science Citations: 0.

DOS ANJOS-GARCIA, TAYLION; COIMBRA, NORBERTO CYSNE. Opposing roles of dorsomedial hypothalamic CB1 and TRPV1 receptors in anandamide signaling during the panic-like response elicited in mice by Brazilian rainbow Boidae snakes. Psychopharmacology, v. 236, n. 6, p. 1863-1874, JUN 2019. Web of Science Citations: 2.