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Abstract #2321

Investigation of Optogenetically Induced Oxytocin Release Within Central Amygdala on BOLD Signals in Rat Brain at 9.4T

Philipp Lebhardt1, 2, Wolfgang Kelsch3, Apar Jain4, Miriam Kernert4, Valery Grinevich4, Gabriele Ende5, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg2, Alexander Sartorius1, 2, Wolfgang Weber-Fahr1, 5

1RG Translational Imaging, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim / Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; 2Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim / Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; 3RG Developmental Biology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim / Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; 4Laboratory of Neuropeptides, German Cancer Research Center DKFZ, CellNetwort Cluster of Excellence, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; 5NeuroImaging, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim / Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

We are presenting preliminary results on a study investigating the BOLD response of the oxytocinergic network in the rat brain stimulated via optogenetics. We selectively expressed Channelrhodopsin-2-mCherry in oxytocin neurons. The guide cannula was implanted into the central amygdala for subsequent stimulation with an implanted optic fiber. Rats were subjected to a fear conditioning protocol and displayed substantial reduced fear response after blue light-evoked axonal oxytocin release within the central amygdala. Using a blocked laser activation fMRI scanning protocol we could show projections from the central amygdala to the superior colliculus in both rats investigated.

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