Contribution of basolateral amygdala‐dorsal striatum pathway in stress

While the dorsal striatum (DS) has been historically heavily implicated in habit formation and goal‐directed learning, the role of the DS in stress‐induced effects remains unknown. It has been shown that stress biases rodents towards using a DS‐dependent form of memory. We hypothesize that an understudied input from the basolateral amygdala (BLA) to the DS may play a role in stress‐induced changes in habit and fear learning. Using optogenetics, we analyzed BLA inputs to the DS with whole‐cell patch clamp, focusing specifically on the endocannabinoid system due to the abundant expression of the endocannabinoid receptor (CB1) in the DS. We showed that the pre‐pulse ratio was significantly increased in stressed mice, suggesting decreased activity twenty‐four hours after stress. In vivo fibre photometry data was also collected to further explore the role of the DS before and after stress. Furthermore, endocannabinoid agonists and antagonists were administered to behaviorally and molecularly assess the contribution of endocannabinoid signaling in the DS. Support or Funding Information T32 Training Grant ‐ Veronika KondevMH107435 This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .