Electrical stimulation of the midbrain tectum enhances dopamine release in the frontal cortex.

CUADRA, G., ZURITA, A., MACEDO C.E., MOLINA, V. AND BRANDAO M.L.

BRAIN RESEARCH BULLETIN

Elsevier

Lugar: United States; Año: 2000 vol. 52 p. 413 - 413

0361-9230

p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; mso-layout-grid-align: none">One widely used animal model of anxiety is the electrical stimulation of a given structure supposed to be involved in the neural circuitry underlying emotional behavior. Indeed, electrical stimulation of midbrain structures with substrates for the processing of fear-like responses, such as the dorsal periaqueductal gray matter (DPAG) or the inferior colliculus (IC), produces behavioral, sensorial and autonomic responses very similar to the defense reactions observed in environmental threatening situations. It has also been proposed that the required level of integration of all these components of the defense reaction needs an integrative process situated at higher brain level, as the prefrontal cortex. As a matter of fact, substantial cortical inputs to