Startle responses can be measured in rodents using loud acoustic tones, and can be enhanced in fear-potentiated startle, a paradigm in which startle is tested in an environment previously paired with footshocks. selleck compound Central administration of NPY inhibits both basal acoustic startle and fear-potentiated startle in rodents (Broqua and et al, 1995, Gilpin and et al, 2011 and Gutman and et al, 2008). Another study demonstrated that NPY infusion into the basolateral, but not central nucleus, of the amygdala mimics the effects of NPY on acoustic startle and fear-potentiated responses (Gutman
et al., 2008). Central administration of a Y1R agonist attenuates fear-potentiated startle, whereas a Y2R agonist was reported to have no effect (Broqua et al., 1995). In genetically Selleck OSI-906 modified rodents, knockout of NPY or Y2R enhances acoustic startle (Bannon et al., 2000), whereas deletion of the Y1R yields impaired habituation of startle responses (Karl et al., 2010). These studies indicate a role for NPY in the modulation of startle and potential for NPY as a therapeutic for hyperarousal in stress-related psychiatric
disorders. However the receptor subtypes and brain regions dictating NPY-induced resilience to this behavioral response remain unclear. The NE system originating in the locus coeruleus (LC) is a brainstem region contributing to arousal responses (Samuels and Szabadi, 2008 and Sara and Bouret, 2012), thus NPY may mediate arousal behavior by directly acting in the LC or by influencing brain regions upstream. Fig. 1 demonstrates putative neurochemical interactions and circuitry that may influence the function of the LC-NE system and arousal behavior. NPY inhibits the firing rate of NE neurons in the LC, and potentiates the effect of NE on presynaptic autoinhibition
of neuronal firing (Illes et al., 1993 and Finta et al., 1992). This electrophysiological evidence suggests that NPY may act to restrain the activity of noradrenergic neurons, which may have important implications for stress-psychiatric diseases in which the LC-NE system is disrupted. In combination with anatomical evidence demonstrating rich NPY (-)-p-Bromotetramisole Oxalate innervation of the LC (Smialowska, 1988) (shown in Fig. 2),these studies suggest that NPY may play an important role in the regulation of noradrenergic stress responses and arousal via NE circuitry. Recent rodent studies suggest that NPY may be useful in the treatment of psychiatric diseases such as PTSD, which is heavily characterized by behavioral sequelae associated with fear. NPY has been found to influence multiple fear-related behaviors including the acquisition, incubation, expression, and extinction of conditioned fear. For example, i.c.v.