Gabaergic mechanisms of anterior and ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei in the expression of freezing in response to a light-conditioned stimulus

The amygdala, dorsal periaqueductal gray (dPAG), and medial hypothalamus have long been recognized to comprise a neural system responsible for the generation and elaboration of unconditioned fear in the brain. This neural substrate is well known to be under tonic inhibitory control exerted by γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) mechanisms. Some evidence also suggests that these structures integrate conditioned fear. A recent study using the fear-potentiated startle paradigm showed that GABAergic mechanisms in the anterior hypothalamic nucleus (AHN) and dorsomedial part of the ventromedial hypothalamic...

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