Impact of inescapable stress on co-localizations of VGluT3 and VGaT in the arcuate and paraventricular nuclei of the hypothalamus

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/gt54kp91q

Abstract

Stress is an unavoidable phenomenon, prevalent in everyone’s lives, and the lasting effects of stress can be detrimental to human health. Elucidating neural circuits that control the response to lasting stressors and anxiety is essential for understanding the central nervous system, as well as more specific drug design. The bed nucleus of stria terminalis, or BNST, is majorly implicated in responding to anxiety and long-term stress, but the circuits involved are not wholly understood. The BNST is cellularly heterogenous and sends projections throughout the brain to control responses to stress. We investigated the potential of a unique BNST cell-type, glutamate-GABA co-releasing neurons in the BNST, and two downstream targets in the paraventricular (PVH) and arcuate (ARC) nuclei of the hypothalamus. These regions are involved in maintaining homeostasis following stressful conditions and may be implicated in modulating anxiolytic responses as well. Here, we have elucidated a novel pathway from the BNST to both the ARC and PVH from glutamate-GABA co-expressing neurons, and present data that may implicate these regions in the response to different stress types.

Creator