For microinjection studies, animals were subjected to stereotaxic surgery. Rats were anesthetized with 100 mg/kg of ketamine hydrochloride and 7 mg/kg xylazine, and implanted with bilateral 23 gauge stainless-steel guide cannulae. Separate cohorts of animals were generated with implantations of cannulae into the basolateral amygdala complex (BLA; flat skull anterior/posterior (AP) = -3.1 mm from bregma, medial/lateral (ML) = ± 5.0 mm from midline, dorsal/ventral (DV) = -6.1 mm from dura), the medial amygdala (MeA; AP = -2.6 mm; ML = +/- 3.4 mm; DV = -7.4 mm) or the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA; AP = -2.2 mm; ML = +/- 4.1 mm; DV = -6.5 mm; Paxinos and Watson, 1998). Four steel screws and dental acrylic were used to permanently affix the guide cannulae to the skull. Stainless steel stylets (30-gauge) were inserted into the guide cannulae until the time of infusion. Immediately following surgery, antibiotic ointment was applied to the skull and surrounding incision. All rats were individually housed during recovery and were given 1 week of recovery before testing.
