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Title
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Drug modulation of the infralimbic cortex and its interaction with odor stimulated medial amygdala.
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Creator
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Peter, Shani
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Abstract/Description
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Abstract Social cues are essential for effective and proper communication and the amygdala has been shown to be involved in the processing of such cues. In rodents, social cues signal potential mating opportunities or the presence of other competitive males and are conveyed mainly through odors or chemosensory signals. Olfactory information is processed in the medial amygdala and may be modulated by the adjacent main intercalated nucleus (m-ICNc). Based on the similar circuitry for fear...
Show moreAbstract Social cues are essential for effective and proper communication and the amygdala has been shown to be involved in the processing of such cues. In rodents, social cues signal potential mating opportunities or the presence of other competitive males and are conveyed mainly through odors or chemosensory signals. Olfactory information is processed in the medial amygdala and may be modulated by the adjacent main intercalated nucleus (m-ICNc). Based on the similar circuitry for fear conditioning, which involves Infralimbic cortex (IL) influence on other intercalated nuclei in the amygdala, we hypothesized that modulating the activity in the IL will affect activity in the m-ICNc, which will, in turn, modify activity in the posterior medial amygdala (MeP) in response to the different types of chemosensory signals. We used glutamatergic agonist injections to excite the IL followed by animal exposure to conspecific or heterospecific odor stimuli to investigate the role of IL in the activation of m-ICNc and medial amygdala in response to these chemosensory signals, using immediate early gene expression as a measure of neuron activation. Following transcardial perfusion, response analysis was done by counting immediate early gene (FRA) positive cells using ImageJ and running two-way ANOVAs using the statistical software Minitab version 16. I expected to see a glutamate-injected IL paired with conspecific or heterospecific odor increase activity in the m-ICNc and anterior medial amygdala (MeA), but minimal activity in MeP. The results from this experiment have shown no significant differences under any of these conditions. These results might be due to the sample size being too small, the injection site being too low, improper slicing using the microtome, and other caveats to be discussed later.
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Date Issued
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2016-04-19
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Identifier
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FSU_libsubv1_scholarship_submission_1461077956
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Format
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Thesis