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GABAergic circuits of the basolateral amygdala and generation of anxiety after traumatic brain injury

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Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has reached epidemic proportions around the world and is a major public health concern in the United States. Approximately 2.8 million individuals sustain a traumatic brain injury and are treated in an Emergency Department yearly in the U.S., and about 50,000 of them die. Persistent symptoms develop in 10–15% of the cases including neuropsychiatric disorders. Anxiety is the second most common neuropsychiatric disorder that develops in those with persistent neuropsychiatric symptoms after TBI. Abnormalities or atrophy in the temporal lobe has been shown in the overwhelming number of TBI cases. The basolateral amygdala (BLA), a temporal lobe structure that consolidates, stores and generates fear and anxiety-based behavioral outputs, is a critical brain region in the anxiety circuitry. In this review, we sought to capture studies that characterized the relationship between human post-traumatic anxiety and structural/functional alterations in the amygdala. We compared the human findings with results obtained with a reproducible mild TBI animal model that demonstrated a direct relationship between the alterations in the BLA and an anxiety-like phenotype. From this analysis, both preliminary insights, and gaps in knowledge, have emerged which may open new directions for the development of rational and more efficacious treatments.

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Acknowledgements

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Funding

This research was supported by the CounterACT Program, National Institutes of Health, Office of the Director and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke [Grant numbers 5R21NS094131-02 and 1U01NS102135-01A1 to MFMB].

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Contributions

Study concept, design, drafting and revision of the manuscript: MFMB, AMM (AMM prepared Fig. 3). Revision of the manuscript and provided Figs. 1, 2: JJ. Drafting and revising of the manuscript for intellectual content: LEE, ZL, THF, MdAF. All authors gave final approval of the version to be published. All authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

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Correspondence to Ann M. Marini.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Conflict of interest

AMM is an Editorial Board Member of Amino Acids. AMM had previously published with one or more of the authors, and shares the same institution as one or more of the authors.

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Disclaimer: The views contained with this manuscript are those of the authors and do not reflect the position or policies of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Army.

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Braga, M.F.M., Juranek, J., Eiden, L.E. et al. GABAergic circuits of the basolateral amygdala and generation of anxiety after traumatic brain injury. Amino Acids 54, 1229–1249 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-022-03184-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-022-03184-y

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