A majority of research evaluating the role of eCB signaling in stress responsiveness has focused on CB1-AEA activity (Gunduz-Cinar, Hill, et al., 2013; Gunduz-Cinar, MacPherson, et al., 2013). However, emerging rodent research also suggests that 2-AG, which is increased following stress exposure, may be particularly important for recovery from stress's anxiogenic effects (Patel et al., 2009). Consistent with this idea, selective MAGL inhibitors acutely reduce anxiety (Busquets-Garcia et al., 2011; Kinsey, O'Neal, Long, Cravatt, & Lichtman, 2011), with evidence that chronic MAGL inhibition prevents the development of stress-related anxiety, potentially by blocking stress-induced long-term depression of inhibitory signaling in the BLA (Sumislawski, Ramikie, & Patel, 2011).
