Citation

Cousens GA, Skrobacz CG, Blumenthal A. Behav. Brain Res. 2011; 216(2): 673-680.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Drew University, 36 Madison Avenue, Madison, New Jersey 07940, United States of America.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.bbr.2010.09.011

PMID

20854845

Abstract

Although the nucleus accumbens (NAc) typically is not considered a primary component of the circuitry underlying either the acquisition or retrieval of conditioned fear, evidence suggests that this region may play some role in modulating fear-related behaviors. The goal of the present study was to explore a potential role for NAc cholinergic receptors in the expression of fear-potentiated startle (FPS) and baseline startle reactivity. Intra-NAc infusion of the broad-acting cholinergic receptor agonist, carbachol, suppressed FPS elicited by re-exposure to both a discrete odor previously paired with footshock and the conditioning context. Although carbachol elevated spontaneous motor activity, activity bouts did not account for startle suppression in carbachol-treated Ss. In addition, intra-NAc carbachol suppressed baseline startle over a range of acoustic pulse intensities in the absence of explicit fear conditioning. Collectively, these findings suggest that NAc cholinergic receptors play a role in the modulation of baseline startle reactivity, rather than in the retrieval of learned fear, and that this role is independent of overt motor activity.

Language: en