Part of the book: The Amygdala
Over the past 20 years, the reactivity of amygdala to emotive stimuli has been explored by emerging neuroimaging techniques in an effort to understand the role of amygdala in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A fear neurocircuitry model, whereby the amygdala is hyperactive due to poor top-down control from the anterior cingulate and ventromedial prefrontal cortices, has been supported by numerous experimental studies and meta-analyses. However, this model has not always been upheld by experimental data and clinical observations. In particular, many neuroimaging studies find that the amygdala fails to activate in response to negative stimuli in individuals with PTSD. Several technical and design issues may explain disparate results regarding amygdala reactivity in PTSD. However, biological and symptom-based factors emerge as possible mediators of amygdala function in PTSD, leading to the conclusion that symptoms of emotional disengagement and dissociation are associated with amygdala hyporeactivity, and symptoms of hypervigilance/hyperarousal and problems with fear conditioning and extinction are reflected by amygdala hyperactivity. Therefore, treatment of PTSD should take into account the nature of amygdala dysfunction in the individual to optimize treatment outcomes.
Part of the book: The Amygdala
Psychostimulant dependence (including cocaine, amphetamine, and methamphetamine) is a chronic relapsing disorder with significant personal, health, and financial burdens. Attempts at abstinence produce a severe and protracted withdrawal syndrome characterized by stress hypersensitivity that can facilitate drug craving, anxiety, and dysphoria. These negative withdrawal symptoms can induce relapse, maintaining the addiction cycle. The hippocampus mediates cognitive, emotional, and endocrine responses to stressors. The ventral hippocampus is in a pivotal position to regulate the mesoaccumbal dopamine reward system, and interacts with serotonergic and glucocorticoid systems that mediate anxiety and stress responsiveness. Psychostimulant actions on the hippocampus induce long-term changes to these systems and impact the process of adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus, which may facilitate drug dependence by altering drug-cue learning and emotional regulation. Multiple studies indicate that psychostimulant-induced hippocampal neuroadaptations heighten hippocampal-mesoaccumbal activity to amplify drug- and drug-cue responses while persistent dysregulation of hippocampal emotional systems potentiate negative affect. Understanding how psychostimulants modulate the hippocampus to alter hippocampal-mesoaccumbal activity—and how hippocampal neurogenesis influences drug-related memories and reward—is important for identifying novel treatment strategies that can ameliorate negative affect and relapse vulnerability in psychostimulant addiction.
Part of the book: The Hippocampus