Figure 2 | Translational Psychiatry

Figure 2

From: Traumatic stress reactivity promotes excessive alcohol drinking and alters the balance of prefrontal cortex-amygdala activity

Figure 2

(a) ERK phosphorylation (pERK) in the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) after re-exposure (15 min) to the predator odor-paired context. Relative to neutral-paired animals (controls), re-exposure to the context produced a bidirectional regulation of pERK levels in the vmPFC in the odor-paired groups, with Avoiders displaying relatively higher ERK phosphorylation compared with that of Non-Avoiders. This relationship was not observed in the dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC). **P<0.01 higher ERK phosphorylation levels in Avoiders versus Non-Avoiders or *P<0.05 higher ERK phosphorylation levels in vmPFC versus dmPFC in Avoiders. (b) ERK phosphorylation in the amygdala subregions after re-exposure to the odor-paired context. As a percentage of neutral-paired control animals, Avoider and Non-Avoider stress-paired groups displayed more ERK phosphorylation in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) versus basolateral amygdala (BLA). **P<0.01 higher ERK phosphorylation levels in the CeA versus BLA of pooled stress-paired groups by analysis of variance (main effect of group). Data reflect the mean±s.e.m. of pERK/ERK ratios and are expressed as a percentage of neutral-paired controls. Inset: representative western blot images for pERK and ERK levels in vmPFC, CeA and BLA in Control (C), Avoider (A) and Non-Avoider (NA) groups.

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