Adolescent stress-induced social anxiety: A role for basolateral amygdala kappa opioid receptors

Adolescence is a developmental period marked by robust neural alterations and heightened vulnerability to stress, a factor that is highly associated with increased risk for emotional processing deficits, such as anxiety. Stress-induced upregulation of the dynorphin/kappa opioid receptor (DYN/KOR) system is thought to underlie the negative affect associated with stress. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) is a key structure involved in anxiety, and neuromodulatory systems, such as the DYN/KOR system, can 1) regulate BLA neural activity in an age-dependent manner in stress-na ïve animals and 2) underlie stress-induced anxiety in adults.
Source: Alcohol - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: research