Effect of lesions in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala on fear conditioning using auditory and visual conditioned stimuli in rats

The lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) is believed to be the site of auditory conditioned stimulus (CS) relay in classical fear conditioning. The present study attempts to determine whether the LA is specifically involved in fear conditioning using an auditory CS. Seven rats with lesions in the LA (Tone-Lateral group) and eight sham-operated rats in the control group were trained using an auditory CS (overtone based on an 800 Hz fundamental tone, 70 dB, 3.7 s) paired with foot shock (1.0 mA, 0.5 s). Five rats with lesions in the LA (Light-Lateral group) and eight unoperated rats in the control group were trained using a visual CS (25 W light, 3.7 s). The behavioral index of fear conditioning was a potentiation of the startle reflex in the presence of CS. All rats in the control group and Light-Lateral group showed this potentiation, whereas those in the Tone-Lateral group did not. These results suggest that the LA is an input site of auditory CS information into the amygdala, and that it is not a site of visual CS information input in fear conditioning. Thus, each modality of CS may have a specific subnucleus of the amygdala that mediates fear conditioning.