AMYGDALA AND CENTRAL CONTROL OF THE AIRWAYS

支气管哮喘是一种以气道高反应性和气道狭窄为特征的疾病，具有潜在的致命性，经常致残，几乎总是伴有严重的情绪困扰。与非哮喘患者相比，哮喘患者出现焦虑和恐慌症状的比例更高。反过来，情绪状态的紊乱有助于支气管哮喘的恶化，并可能成为不良预后的危险因素。支气管哮喘产生恐惧和愤怒的神经通路，引起自主神经变化，进而在心理生理水平上加剧哮喘，目前尚不清楚。因此，本研究的长期目标是了解情绪控制与气道内稳态调节之间的神经网络和机制。研究将集中在杏仁核复合体对气道几何形状的调节上，杏仁核复合体被认为与焦虑和恐慌综合症有关。在本研究中，我们将描述连接中央杏仁核和支配气管支气管系统的迷走神经节前神经元的操作网络，作为整合为情绪困扰和气道设置舞台的关键变化的共同途径

Bronchial asthma, a disease characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness and airway narrowing, is a potentially lethal, frequently disabling, and almost invariably associated with substantive emotional distress. Anxiety and the panic-fear symptom constellation has been shown to occur at higher rates in people with asthma compared to non-asthmatic subjects. In turn, disturbances in emotional state contribute to worsening of bronchial asthma and may act as risk factors for poor outcome. Neural pathways through which bronchial asthma generate fear and anger, causing autonomic changes that in turn exacerbate asthma at a psychophysiological level, are not known. Hence, the Iongterm objective of this proposal is to understand neural network and mechanisms that link emotional control with regulation airway homeostasis. Studies will focus on regulation of the airway geometry by the amygdaloid complex, which is thought to be involved in anxiety and the panic-fear syndrome. In the proposed studies, we will characterize operational network that link central amygdala with the vagal preganglionic neurons that innervate the tracheobronchial system, as a common pathway integrating the critical changes that set the stage for emotional distress and airway hyperresponsiveness. These studies will be performed in cats over a three-year period. The results of these studies will greatly enhance our understanding of the interrelationship between limbic system and central control of the airways and will have important implications for elucidating the pathophysiology of anxiety and the panic-fear expression with asthmatic attacks and designing therapeutic strategies to reduce or alleviate emotional and respiratory consequences of airway narrowing.