Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34811712›Full record

ArticleJournal of molecular neuroscience : MN2022

Activation of Lateral Parabrachial Nucleus (LPBn) PACAP-Expressing Projection Neurons to the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis (BNST) Enhances Anxiety-like Behavior.

Melissa N Boucher, Mahafuza Aktar, Karen M Braas, Victor May, Sayamwong E Hammack

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

27 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. ParabrachialProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
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  4. A Distinct Subpopulation of Extended Amygdala Neurons Drives Food Intake.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026
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  9. A Distinct Subpopulation of Extended Amygdala Neurons Drives Food Intake.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
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  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Distinct eLPBTheranostics · 2024
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Melissa N BoucherDepartment of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, 2 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
Mahafuza AktarDepartment of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, 2 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
Karen M BraasDepartment of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, 2 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
Victor MayDepartment of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, 2 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
Sayamwong E HammackDepartment of Psychological Science, University of Vermont, 2 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA. shammack@uvm.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8937-3193
University of Vermont · US

Funding

PACAP and the Response to Stressors: Neural MechanismsR01MH097988 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & ST AGRIC COLLEGE · PI HAMMACK, SAYAMWONG E., MAY, VICTOR · 2012 to 2023
$3.7M
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH097988
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders, and understanding the underlying neurocircuitry of anxiety- and stress-related behaviors may be important for treatment. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) has been studied for its role in many stress-related pathologies, such as anxiety, pain, depression, and addiction. Our prior work has demonstrated that pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) receptor activation in the BNST mediates many of the behavioral consequences of chronic stress. While the BNST contains local PACAP-expressing neurons, a major source of afferent PACAP is the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBn), and excitotoxic lesions of the LPBn substantially decreasess PACAP immunostaining in the BNST. Here, we first assessed Cre-dependent reporter expression by injecting AAV2-hSyn-DIO-mCherry into the LPBn of PACAP-IRES-Cre mice for circuit mapping studies and identified PACAP projections to the BNST, lateral capsular central nucleus of the amygdala (CeLC), and ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH). In a second study, we assessed the effects of chemogenetically activating LPBn PACAP afferents in the BNST by injecting AAV2-hSyn-DIO-hM3D(Gq)-mCherry into the LPBn of PACAP-IRES-Cre mice for Cre-dependent expression of excitatory designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs). Before behavioral testing, clozapine-N-oxide (CNO), the selective agonist of our DREADD, was infused directly into the BNST. We found that after specific activation of LPBn PACAP afferents in the BNST, mice had increased anxiety-like behavior compared with controls, while total locomotor activity was unaffected. These results indicate that activation of PACAPergic LPBn projections to the BNST may play an important role in producing anxiety-like behavior.

Indexed as

Parabrachial NucleusSeptal NucleiAnimalsAnxietyMiceNeuronsPituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating PolypeptideStress, PsychologicalPituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating PolypeptideAnxietyDREADDExtended amygdalaPAC1 receptorPost-traumatic stress disorderStress

Identifiers

PMID34811712
PMCPMC8930475
OpenAlexW3216986806

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.