Dissociation between the panicolytic effect of cannabidiol microinjected into the substantia nigra, pars reticulata, and fear-induced antinociception elicited by bicuculline administration in deep layers of the superior colliculus: The role of CB1-cannabinoid receptor in the ventral mesencephalon

Ultra High Field fMRI of Human Superior Colliculi Activity during Affective Visual Processing

“…The SC has been extensively studied as an oculomotor region important for defensive responding 10 . Findings in rodents, for example, have uncovered the importance of the SC in defensive responding using electrophysiological 16,17,46 , pharmacological 12,16,19,47 , and optogenetic 13,14,46,48 methods. Studies in non-human primates have generalized the SC's role in defensive behaviour and visual threat detection of natural predator using pharmacological 18 and lesion 24 methods, respectively.…”

“…Although the SC is most commonly characterized by its visuomotor functions 8 , behavioural and pharmacological studies in rodents and non-human primates have demonstrated that it is also implicated in approach and defense behaviours, which are modulated by the nigrotectal connections to substantia nigra [12][13][14] . In the rodent SC, visual inputs to the lateral and medial parts of intermediate and deep layers are functionally segregated to facilitate approach and defensive behaviours toward appetitive and threatening stimuli, which are typically presented in the lower and upper visual fields respectively 15 .…”

Cannabidiol as a Potential Treatment for Anxiety Disorders

“…CBD was also panicolytic in the predator-prey model, which assesses explosive escape and defensive immobility in response to a boa constrictor snake, also partially via 5-HT 1A R activation; however, more consistent with an anxiogenic effect, CBD was also noted to decrease time spent outside the burrow and increase defensive attention (not shown in Table 1) [75,86] . Finally, CBD, partially via CB 1 Rs, decreased defensive immobility and explosive escape caused by bicuculline-induced neuronal activation in the superior colliculus [89]. Anticompulsive effects of CBD were investigated in marble-burying behavior, conceptualized to model OCD [96].…”

The innate defensive behaviour and unconditioned fear-induced antinociception evoked by NMDA receptor activation in the medial hypothalamus are modulated by the intradiencephalic treatment with cannabidiol: the role of CB1 cannabinoid receptor

“…In this sense, the emotional state of fear is manifested through adaptive responses to the risk of imminent or potential danger. Although panic-stricken fears of fear in the panic syndrome are uniquely human, there is evidence of correlation with defensive behavioural responses of animals in perilous situations have been used for a better understanding of the neural circuits involved in the organisation and elaboration of the defensive behaviour evoked by aversive conditions (Brandão et al, 1994;Biagioni et al, 2012;Almada and Coimbra, 2015). By analysing the behaviour of the animals, once exposed to aversive stimuli, it becomes possible to reproduce aspects related to anxiety disorder, for example, in the panic that occurs in humans, such as psychopathological symptoms and pharmacotherapeutic effects (Steimer, 2011).…”