ArticleNature communications2020
Identification of a prefrontal cortex-to-amygdala pathway for chronic stress-induced anxiety.
Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 253 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
253 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 419 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genome-wide meta-analysis, functional genomics and integrative analyses implicate new risk genes and therapeutic targets for anxiety disorders.Nature human behaviour · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation for the treatment of chronic insomnia: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Assessing the effectiveness of high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for post-mastectomy pain in breast cancer patients: A randomized controlled trial.Breast cancer (Tokyo, Japan) · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Vagal sensing of altered gut microbiota links to externalizing behaviors.Gut microbes · 2026Article
- Behavioural, neurochemical, and neurohistological effects of bisphenol A and vanadium following chronic co-administration in mice.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2026Article
- Rescuing anxiety by targeting the neuronal-astrocytic iron signaling axis in male mice.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Article
- Progress in pain mechanisms and management.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Acute Stress Drives Adaptive Anxiety via Excitatory-Inhibitory Imbalance in the Prefrontal-Amygdala Circuit in Male Mice.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Article
- Ophthalmic and psychiatric health: the overlooked connection between ocular diseases and mental disorders.Eye (London, England) · 2026Review
- An mPFC-DMV cortical-autonomic-immune axis governs stress-induced immune dysregulation in sepsis.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Future Prospects of Ultrasound: Role of Low-Intensity Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation in the Treatment of Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders.European journal of neurology · 2026Review
- Role of the Amygdala in the Complex Relationship Between Sleep and Anxiety.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Baihe Dihuang decoction activates cannabinoid type 2 receptor to regulate microglial polarization and alleviate anxiety-like behavior in chronic restraint stress mice.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2026Article
- Exendin-4 alleviates anxiety-like behaviors in chronic restraint stress miceActa pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2026Article
- Unveiling the enigma of anxiety disorders and depression: from pathogenesis to treatment.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- ATP release from the amygdala-prefrontal pathway regulates vulnerability to social stress in male mice.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Standardized chronic restraint stress protocols reveal dynamic evolution of behavioral adaptations in male mice: implications for translational neuroscience.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Contributions of dorsal medial prefrontal cortex GABAergic mu opioid receptors on acute restraint stress-induced anxiety-like behavior.Biology direct · 2026Article
- Medium-intensity aerobic exercise can relieve mice anxiety by activating cannabinoid type 1 receptors on medial prefrontal cortex GABAergic neurons.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
193 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Dysregulated prefrontal control over amygdala is engaged in the pathogenesis of psychiatric diseases including depression and anxiety disorders. Here we show that, in a rodent anxiety model induced by chronic restraint stress (CRS), the dysregulation occurs in basolateral amygdala projection neurons receiving mono-directional inputs from dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC→BLA PNs) rather than those reciprocally connected with dmPFC (dmPFC↔BLA PNs). Specifically, CRS shifts the dmPFC-driven excitatory-inhibitory balance towards excitation in the former, but not latter population. Such specificity is preferential to connections made by dmPFC, caused by enhanced presynaptic glutamate release, and highly correlated with the increased anxiety-like behavior in stressed mice. Importantly, low-frequency optogenetic stimulation of dmPFC afferents in BLA normalizes the enhanced prefrontal glutamate release onto dmPFC→BLA PNs and lastingly attenuates CRS-induced increase of anxiety-like behavior. Our findings thus reveal a target cell-based dysregulation of mPFC-to-amygdala transmission for stress-induced anxiety.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.