Beneath stress, animals change their habits, resembling by means of “battle or flight” or “freezing” response. Concurrently, physiological responses important for stress adaptation are triggered within the physique. Cardiovascular regulation, together with adjustments in blood strain and coronary heart fee, is a important stress response.
Researchers have centered on the lateral habenula, a mind area the place neurons are activated in response to emphasize. They investigated the neural mechanisms underlying cardiovascular responses by activating the lateral habenula in experiments utilizing rats. Activation of the lateral habenula prompted adjustments in blood strain and coronary heart fee. Nevertheless, pharmacologically blocking of dopamine neurotransmission suppressed the blood strain and coronary heart fee adjustments induced by lateral habenula activation. Moreover, these adjustments have been additionally suppressed when the exercise of the ventral tegmental space, which receives enter from neurons within the lateral habenula, was pharmacologically inhibited. These outcomes recommend that the cardiovascular responses attributable to lateral habenula activation are mediated by the dopaminergic system, particularly by dopamine neurons within the ventral tegmental space.
Primarily based on the findings of this examine, additional analysis into the neural mechanisms regulating cardiovascular responses throughout stress is predicted to offer a greater understanding of the behavioral adjustments induced by stress and the mechanisms that preserve homeostasis within the physique.
The analysis was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Kakenhi (19H03339, 22K19477, and 24K22082). YS was additionally supported by a Japan Science and Expertise Company scholarship SPRING (JPMJSP2124).
