主催: 公益社団法人日本薬理学会
会議名: 第97回日本薬理学会年会
回次: 97
開催地: 神戸
開催日: 2023/12/14 - 2023/12/16
Emotion affects physical reaction by the autonomic nervous system in the top-down process. However, there are few reported whether physical reactions, such as increased heart rate, might induce emotional changes like anxiety or fear responses. Here, we have investigated emotional behavior by controlling heart rate directly by a drug administration or an optogenetic-based cardiac pacing system in freely moving mice. First, the heart rate was controlled by ivabradine, an inhibitor of the hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels. We found that ivabradine evoked bradycardia and partially reduced anxiety-like behavior. Second, heart rate was controlled by the optical cardiac pacing in freely moving mice. In many previous studies, the pacing was applied ex vivo or in anesthetized animals. Therefore, we developed the optical cardiac pacing system in awake, freely moving mice and simultaneously measured electrocardiograms. We found that Optically increased heart rate by using this system potentially enhanced anxiety-like behavior. These results suggested that emotional states are partially driven by heart rate in the bottom-up process. In conclusion, the brain function and the feedback from the physical reactions must be considered together to understand the mechanisms of expressed emotion.