Figure 1.
Optogenetic stimulation of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neurons in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and central amygdala (CeA) recruited reward-related brain circuits and led to reinforcement (self-stimulation) and the pursuit of sucrose. By contrast, stimulation of CRF neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) engaged distress-related brain circuits and led to avoidance and a suppression of sucrose pursuit. These effects show the opposing impact different CRF neuron subpopulations have on incentive motivation. Figure created with images from BioRender.com. ChR2, channelrhodopsin-2.