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Fear-cue Induced Inhibition of Feeding: Activation of the Central Nucleus of the Amygdala

Thesis advisor: Gorica Petrovich / Thesis advisor: Christina Reppucci / Previously our lab has shown that food-deprived male and female rats will inhibit food consumption when presented with a conditioned stimulus that signals danger, and that this effect persists much longer in females than in males. The current experiment is part of a larger study that has two aims: 1) delineate the brain areas associated with fear-cue induced anorexia and 2) determine whether there are sex-differences in brain activation patterns. Female rats previously conditioned in an aversive paradigm inhibited food intake compared to female rats in the control group during three extinction tests, while experimental males only inhibited intake compared to male controls during test one. Following the third test, rats were sacrificed and brain tissue processed to assess activation patterns via Fos-expression within the central nucleus of the amygdala (CEA). We found that males had higher activation than females during test 3 in the CEA. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Psychology Honors Program. / Discipline: Psychology.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BOSTON/oai:dlib.bc.edu:bc-ir_104429
Date January 2013
CreatorsYoung, John K.
PublisherBoston College
Source SetsBoston College
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, thesis
Formatelectronic, application/pdf
RightsCopyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.

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