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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Mar 31.
Published in final edited form as: Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2012 Jul 5;36(9):1965–1984. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.06.005

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3

A stress-based neural model of functional noradrenergic circuitry that is implicated in mediating the anxiolytic-like potential of wheel running. Stress increases norepineprhine output from the locus coeruleus to brain circuitry controlling anxiety-like behavior in sedentary rodents. However, rodents given repeated access to a running wheel exhibit increased expression of galanin, a peptide colocalized with norepineprhine in the locus coeruleus relative to sedentary controls. Therefore, we propose that enhanced galanin-mediated suppression of noradrenergic output from the locus coeruleus in wheel runners is a mechanism that can account for the attenuation of anxiety-like behavior after stressor exposure. Abbreviations: aCg, anterior cingulate; Amy, amygdala; BNST, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; DR, dorsal raphe; FC, frontal cortex; GAL, galanin; HF, hippocampal formation; Hypothal., hypothalamus; LC, locus coeruleus; OB, olfactory bulb; PAG, periaquiductal gray area.