| |
| author |
Alexandra Greulich
| | title |
Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis: Potential Odor Responsivity and Cannabidiol Modulation
| | abstract |
Anxiety disorders exist at a high prevalence in the United States. Current research
examining anxiety-related brain regions, as well as studies on drugs that alter the activity in these
regions, contribute to improvements of therapies for the disorder. Recently, studies looking
characterizing the activity of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) have determined that
this region plays a key role in sustained anxiety and contextual fear, as opposed to the well
defined amygdala, which is primarily involved in phasic fear. Further, presentation of predator
odors have induced anxiety behaviors in animal models, likely because of the non-volatile
processing projections from the vomeronasal organ (VNO) to accessory olfactory bulb (AOB),
medial amygdala (MeA), and finally, the BNST. In the present study, electrophysiological
methods were used to search for baseline and odor-elicited activity in the BNST to further
confirm this region's role in anxiety, as well as test the potential for this methodology to be an
efficient tool in studying anxiety. It was hypothesized that the BNST would present with baseline
activity in the anesthetized rat and have non-volatile odor (2-heptanone) elicited activity, but not
volatile odor-elicited activity. Ultimately, there was sufficient baseline activity but no
odor-elicited activity to either odor types. Previously obtained data recorded in the olfactory
tubercle (OT) were also analyzed to provide a comparison for baseline and odor-elicited activity.
The OT had a similar baseline frequency but, in contrast, were responsive to isoamyl acetate,
2-heptanone, propyl butyrate, and 1,7-octadiene. Additionally, intracerebroventricular doses of
cannabidiol (CBD; 1, 2, and 3 µL) were presented to the rats while being presented with odors to
test the if drug's potential therapeutic effects may be enacted through altering the activity in the
BNST. It was hypothesized that CBD would change the activity of both baseline and
odor-elicited activity; however, since there was no odor-elicited activity, only the effect on
baseline activity could be observed. CBD did not consistently change baseline activity. One of
three cells presented with 1 µL of CBD demonstrated a change in activity that occurred at an
appropriate time relative to drug administration. Overall, the potential for using this model and
drug likely remains in question due to the potential areas of improvement including altering the
mechanism of odor or drug introduction as well as fine tuning existing methods.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2019)
|
| advisor |
Graham Cousens
|
| committee |
Christopher Medvecky
Sandra Keyser
|
| full text | AGreulich.pdf |
| |
