Author(s)

Maria P. Rysakova^*, Irina V. Pavlova

Department of Conditioned Reflexes and Physiology of Emotion, Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of RAS, Moscow, Russia.

The influence of γ-aminobutyric type-A (GABA_A) receptors agonist (muscimol hydrobromide, 0.1 μg/0.5 μl) injections into the right or left basolateral amygdala (BLA) on the behavior of high-anxiety (HA) and low-anxiety (LA) rats subjected to the elevated plus-maze (EPM) test was investigated. Anxiolytic-like effects (increase of open-arm entries and open-arm time) was revealed only after administration of muscimol into the left (but not right) amygdala of HA animals. No effect was observed upon administration of muscimol to LA rats. These findings suggest an important role in anxiety regulation of the amygdalar GABA levels, and the assumed GABA hemispheric lateralization.

Anxiety, Basolateral Amygdala, GABA_A Receptor, Muscimol Hydrobromide, Hemispheric Lateralization

Rysakova, M. and Pavlova, I. (2016) Differential Effect of Unilateral Amygdalar GABA_A Receptor Agonist Injection on Low- and High-Anxiety Rats. Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science, 6, 9-18. doi: 10.4236/jbbs.2016.61002.