5-HT1A receptor agonist affects fear conditioning through stimulations of the postsynaptic 5-HT1A receptors in the hippocampus and amygdala

Evidence from preclinical and clinical studies has shown that 5-HT1A receptor agonists have anxiolytic actions. The anxiolytic actions of 5-HT1A receptor agonists have been tested by our previous studies using fear conditioning. However, little is known about the brain regions of anxiolytic actions of 5-HT1A receptor agonists in this paradigm. In the present study, we investigated the effects of bilateral microinjections of flesinoxan, a selective 5-HT1A receptor agonist, into the hippocampus, amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex on the expression of contextual conditioned freezing and the defecation induced by conditioned fear stress in rats. These results reveal that both intrahippocampal and intraamygdala injections of flesinoxan decreased the expression of conditioned freezing, while injections into the medial prefrontal cortex did not. In addition, intraamygdala injection of flesinoxan attenuated the increased defecation induced by conditioned fear, but injections into the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex failed. These results suggest that flesinoxan exerts its anxiolytic actions in the fear conditioning through stimulations of the postsynaptic 5-HT1A receptors in the hippocampus and amygdala.