On the one hand, the emotional state can influence food intake and on the other hand, hunger can have an impact on the emotional state. Leptin, which is encoded by the ob gene, is involved in the energy homeostasis and plays a role in development of obesity. Mice deficient for leptin (ob/ob) are obese and display several behavioral alterations. It has been shown that ob/ob mice display striking changes in neuronal plasticity within the limbic system, e.g., hippocampal formation. We focus on alterations in ob/ob mice that can be related to alter processing in another part of the limbic system, the amygdala. ob/ob mice have a higher food consumption than age-matched controls, which might have an impact on the emotional state of these mice. Since the amygdala is involved in emotional processing, we analyze whether ob/ob mice display alterations in plasticity at the electrophysiological and structural level. No changes were seen in dendritic spine densities in the basolateral and lateral (LA) nucleus of the amygdala. Interestingly and in contrast to the hippocampus (Porter et al. 2013), long-term potentiation in the LA was increased in ob/ob mice. Our results indicate that amygdalar and hippocampal synaptic plasticity are regulated in different ways by leptin deficiency in accordance with the different functions of these limbic structures in stress and anxiety.

中文翻译：

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瘦素缺陷小鼠杏仁核的结构和功能后果

一方面，情绪状态会影响食物摄入量，另一方面，饥饿会影响情绪状态。由 ob 基因编码的瘦素参与能量稳态并在肥胖的发展中发挥作用。缺乏瘦素 (ob/ob) 的小鼠肥胖并表现出多种行为改变。已经表明 ob/ob 小鼠在边缘系统内的神经元可塑性方面表现出惊人的变化，例如海马体的形成。我们专注于 ob/ob 小鼠的改变，这些改变可能与边缘系统另一部分杏仁核的处理改变有关。ob/ob 小鼠的食物消耗量高于年龄匹配的对照组，这可能会对这些小鼠的情绪状态产生影响。由于杏仁核参与情绪处理，我们分析了 ob/ob 小鼠是否在电生理和结构水平上表现出可塑性的改变。杏仁核的基底外侧和外侧 (LA) 核中的树突棘密度未见变化。有趣的是，与海马体相反（Porter 等人，2013 年），在 ob/ob 小鼠中，LA 的长时程增强增加了。我们的研究结果表明，根据这些边缘结构在压力和焦虑中的不同功能，瘦素缺乏以不同方式调节杏仁核和海马突触可塑性。在 ob/ob 小鼠中，LA 的长期增强作用增加。我们的研究结果表明，根据这些边缘结构在压力和焦虑中的不同功能，瘦素缺乏以不同方式调节杏仁核和海马突触可塑性。在 ob/ob 小鼠中，LA 的长期增强作用增加。我们的研究结果表明，根据这些边缘结构在压力和焦虑中的不同功能，瘦素缺乏以不同方式调节杏仁核和海马突触可塑性。