Dissociable contributions of the amygdala and ventral hippocampus to stress-induced changes in defensive behavior
Zachary T. Pennington,
Alexa R. LaBanca,
Patlapa Sompolpong,
Shereen D. Abdel-Raheim,
Bumjin Ko,
Zoe Christenson Wick,
Yu Feng,
Zhe Dong,
Taylor R. Francisco,
Madeline E. Bacon,
Lingxuan Chen,
Sasha L. Fulton,
Ian Maze,
Tristan Shuman,
Denise J. Cai
Affiliations
Zachary T. Pennington
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Corresponding author
Alexa R. LaBanca
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Patlapa Sompolpong
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Shereen D. Abdel-Raheim
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Bumjin Ko
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Zoe Christenson Wick
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Yu Feng
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Zhe Dong
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Taylor R. Francisco
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Madeline E. Bacon
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Lingxuan Chen
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Sasha L. Fulton
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Ian Maze
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Tristan Shuman
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Denise J. Cai
Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: Stress can have profound consequences on mental health. While much is known about the neural circuits supporting associative memories of stressful events, our understanding of the circuits underlying the non-associative impacts of stress, such as heightened stress sensitivity and anxiety-related behavior, is limited. Here, we demonstrate that the ventral hippocampus (vHC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA) support distinct non-associative behavioral changes following stress. Inhibiting stress-induced protein synthesis in the BLA blocked subsequent increases in stress sensitivity but not anxiety-related behaviors. Conversely, inhibiting stress-induced protein synthesis in the vHC blocked subsequent increases in anxiety-related behavior but not stress sensitivity. Inhibiting neuronal activity in the BLA and vHC during the assessment of stress sensitivity or anxiety-related behavior recapitulated these structures’ dissociable contributions to defensive behavior. Lastly, blocking the associative memory of a stressor had no impact on stress-induced changes in anxiety-related behavior. These findings highlight that multiple memory systems support the long-lasting effects of stress.