SYMPOSIUM
129. HPA and Amygdala CRH Alterations Associated With Primate Anxiety

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.02.147Get rights and content

Section snippets

Background

Studies in new born monkeys followed longitudinally over the first year of life examine the developmental trajectory of threat-induced cortisol in relation to individual differences in the development of anxiety and its underlying neural circuitry. Additional studies in preadolescent monkeys test the role of amygdala CRH systems in mediating anxiety.

Methods

A longitudinal design studying 35 rhesus monkeys over the first year of life was used with behavioral phenotyping, multimodal neuroimaging, and cortisol analyses. In preadolescent monkeys, a viral vector strategy using real time MRI intraoperative infusions was used to overexpress CRH in the dorsal amygdala.

Results

In preadolescent monkeys, over expression of dorsal amygdala CRH resulted in increased anxiety (p<.05) that was associated with increased metabolism in components of the anxiety circuit, including the amygdala, posterior OFC and brain stem (p<.05). In addition, during the first year of life the association of cortisol with developmental trajectories in the structure and function of the neural circuitry underlying anxiety was determined.

Conclusions

These findings define the relation between individual differences in early life cortisol and the development of individual differences in anxiety and its underlying neural circuit. Additionally, these studies provide a proof of concept for "gene therapy" studies in primate species and directly implicate increased amygdala CRH gene expression in the development of pathological anxiety.

Supported By

R01MH046729; P50MH100031

Keywords

HPA, CRH, Anxiety, Development, Primate

References (0)

Cited by (0)

View full text