Romanski L M, Clugnet M C, Bordi F, LeDoux J E
Section of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.
Behav Neurosci. 1993 Jun;107(3):444-50. doi: 10.1037//0735-7044.107.3.444.
Previous studies have shown that the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (AL) is essential in auditory fear conditioning and that neurons in the AL respond to auditory stimuli. The goals of the present study were to determine whether neurons in the AL are also responsive to somatosensory stimuli and, if so, whether single neurons in the AL respond to both auditory and somatosensory stimulation. Single-unit activity was recorded in the AL in anesthetized rats during the presentation of acoustic (clicks) and somatosensory (footshock) stimuli. Neurons in the dorsal subdivision of the AL responded to both somatosensory and auditory stimuli, whereas neurons in the ventrolateral AL responded only to somatosensory stimuli and neurons in the ventromedial AL did not respond to either stimuli. These findings indicate that the dorsal AL is a site of auditory and somatosensory convergence and may therefore be a locus of convergence of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli in auditory fear conditioning.
先前的研究表明，杏仁核外侧核（AL）在听觉恐惧条件反射中至关重要，并且AL中的神经元对听觉刺激有反应。本研究的目的是确定AL中的神经元是否也对体感刺激有反应，如果是，那么AL中的单个神经元是否对听觉和体感刺激都有反应。在麻醉大鼠的AL中记录单个神经元活动，同时呈现听觉（点击声）和体感（足部电击）刺激。AL背侧亚区的神经元对体感和听觉刺激均有反应，而腹外侧AL中的神经元仅对体感刺激有反应，腹内侧AL中的神经元对两种刺激均无反应。这些发现表明，背侧AL是听觉和体感汇聚的部位，因此可能是听觉恐惧条件反射中条件刺激和非条件刺激汇聚的位点。
