Post-stress analgesia in rats with partial amygdala lesions

Abstract

The role of the dorsal basal and the central nuclei of the amygdala under two modes of foot-shock analgesia was studied in 45 Moll-Wistar rats. Four minutes of continuous foot-shock produced post-stress analgesia in control and in all lesioned rats, but 20 min of regularly intermittent foot-shock did not evoke analgesia in rats with central nucleus lesion. This result indicates different involvement of dorsal basal and central nuclei in processing of stressful stimuli.