Enhanced c‐Fos expression in the central amygdala correlates with increased thigmotaxis in rats with peripheral nerve injury

BACKGROUND: Pain is associated with affective, cognitive and sensory dysfunction. Animal models can be used to observe ethologically relevant behaviours such as thigmotaxis, giving insight into how ongoing sensory abnormalities influence natural rodent behaviours. The amygdala is a complex group of nuclei implicated in the integration and generation of emotional behavioural responses, including those associated with pain, and a region known as the central amygdala is particularly associated with generation of behavioural responses, due to its links to the descending pain modulation pathways; as such, study of amygdalar c‐Fos immunoreactivity can help identify the neuronal circuits involved. METHOD: This study investigated changes in both nociceptive evoked responses and open field behaviour following spinal nerve transection (SNT) in male Wistar rats, and attempted to correlate these with changes in central amygdala c‐Fos immunoreactivity. RESULTS: Fourteen days after SNT, mechanical hypersensitivity was present in the hind paw ipsilateral to site of injury. Thigmotactic behaviour was significantly increased in both SNT and sham surgery animals, with c‐Fos immunoreactivity in the central amygdala significantly greater in SNT animals compared to both sham and naive groups. Activation was greatest in the capsular and lateral subnuclei of the central amygdala, and in the caudal‐most regions. There was a strong correlation between thigmotactic behaviour and central amygdala activation following SNT surgery not seen in sham animals suggesting a role for the amygdala in behavioural responses to peripheral nerve injury. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence to support the role of the amygdala in thigmotactic open field behaviour following SNT. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD? Thigmotaxis and amygdala activation are positively correlated in rats following spinal nerve transection. Behavioural changes seen in sham animals did not correlate with amygdala activation, suggesting amygdala activation is related to nociceptive input. Evoked measures, such as hindpaw withdrawal, are not correlated with either thigmotaxis or amygdala activation, emphasizing the importance of complex behaviours when studying pain.