Direct evidence of conditioned fear-elicited enhancement of noradrenaline release in the rat hypothalamus assessed by intracranial microdialysis

Inescapable footshock stress produced marked increases in noradrenaline (NA) release, which was assessed by intracranial microdialysis, in the hypothalamus of conscious rats. Emotional stress, without physical stimuli (replacement to the environment where the rats had received footshock previously), also increased hypothalamic NA release. These results suggest that foodshock stress caused increases in NA release and this activation of NA neurons appears to be reinstated simply by re-exposure to the environment previously associated with shock.