Evidence that the amygdala is involved in benzodiazepine and serotonergic effects on punished responding but not on discrimination.

Interactions between the benzodiazepines (BZs) chlordiazepoxide (CDP) and midazolam (MDZ), the BZ antagonist R0 15-1788, the inverse BZ receptor agonists CGS 8216 and FG 7142, gamma-aminobutyrate (GABA), serotonin (5-HT), the 5-HT2 antagonist methysergide and the putative 5-HT agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino) tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) were investigated using peripheral and intra-amygdaloid treatments. A multiple schedule consisting of rewarded, nonrewarded (Time out: TO) and conflict periods was used to compare in parallel effects on successive discrimination between rewarded and nonrewarded periods and punished responding. The three components were presented in both a fixed order (Experiment 1) and a random order (Experiments 2 and 3). Intra-amygdaloid treatments with GABA and the BZs selectively increased rates of punished responding. CDP given systemically, on the other hand, increased both TO and conflict rates, suggesting an additional impairment of discrimination, which was more marked in the random than the fixed order condition. R0 15-1788, CGS 8216 and FG 7142 given by both routes counteracted the anti-conflict effects of CDP given centrally or systemically. However increases in TO rates induced by IP CDP were antagonized only by IP treatments with these compounds. The two inverse agonists, but not R0 15-1788, also counteracted increases in punished responding which were found after intra-amygdaloid GABA infusions. In Experiments 2 and 3 where baseline rates of pressing in Conflict periods were sufficiently high to detect decreases, CGS 8216 and FG 7142 reduced responding below control level, suggesting a specific anxiogenic activity. Evidence for effects of R0 15-1788 by itself was inconclusive. 5-HT injected into the amygdala also reduced punished responding below control level, whereas methysergide increased it with both central and peripheral treatment. Effects of 8-OH-DPAT varied according to route of administration. With IP treatment Conflict rates were increased, but after amygdaloid infusion both TO and Conflict rates were marginally reduced below control level, with a more consistent depression of punished responding. These results provide evidence that effects of BZs on punished responding are mediated by a GABAergic system which includes the lateral/basolateral amygdala, but which does not participate in BZ-induced disruption of discrimination. They also indicate that the antagonistic effects of CGS 8216 and FG 7142 involve a decrease in GABA transmission, and that these compounds may also be anxiogenic.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)