Involvement of rat lateral septum-acetylcholine pressor system in central amygdaloid nucleus-emotional pressor circuit.

There is an emotional pressor circuit composed of nuclei controlling emotion and stress, which may be the neurophysiological basis for prolonged emotional stress inducing hypertension. The central amygdaloid nucleus (AC) is the most important in this circuit, which widely connects with the other nuclei via its CRF (corticotropin releasing factor)-ergic and SP (substance P)-ergic projection fibers. There is another pressor system composed of the lateral septum (SL), habenula (HB), locus coeruleus (LC), and rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVL); muscarinic receptors are involved in each connection of this system. In view of the facts that the SL also plays an important role in integration of emotion and autonomic reaction, and the AC projects to the SL, it is likely that the SL-acetylcholine (ACh) pressor system is involved in the AC-emotional circuit. The present study demonstrates that injection of receptor blocker into each nucleus in the SL-ACh pressor pathway can reverse the AC pressor response, proving that the SL-HB (and HB-posterior hypothalamus)-LC-RVL pressor system is a component of the AC-emotional pressor circuit.