Abstract
The amygdala and monoaminergic innervation thereonto are considered to cooperatively regulate emotional states and behaviors. In the previous study, we find that dopamine can induce a slow afterdepolarization (sADP) by activating both noradrenalin and serotonin receptors in lateral amygdala (LA) neurons. In the present experiments, we investigated how the monoaminergic inputs cooperatively induce the sADP on LA neurons by whole cell recordings in rat brain slices. Bath-application of high concentration noradrenalin (10μM) or serotonin (5μM) only induced sADP in LA neurons. This sADP lasted for more than 5 seconds and was similar to dopamine-induced sADP. Bath-application of low concentration noradrenalin (1μM) or serotonin (0.5μM) only failed to induce the full sADP. On the other hands, when low concentration noradrenalin and serotonin were combined together, they could induce the full sADP. These results suggest that monoaminergic inputs cooperatively modulate the excitability of amygdala neurons. [J Physiol Sci. 2008;58 Suppl:S130]
