The CeAL contains predominantly GABAergic neurons that receive excitatory input from the BLA, cortex, thalamus, and brainstem autonomic nuclei carrying visceral, as well as nociceptive information, and in turn, project to the parabrachial nucleus, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, basal forebrain, and CeAM (Knapska et al., 2007). The CeAM is considered the output structure of the amygdala, and receives excitatory input from the cortex, BLA, brainstem, and hypothalamus, and tonic inhibitory input from the CeAL (Sah et al., 2003; Knapska et al., 2007; Ciocchi et al., 2010).
