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Fear conditioning and LTP in the lateral amygdala are sensitive to the same stimulus contingencies

Nature Neuroscience volume 4, pages 687–688 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Pavlovian fear conditioning depends not so much on the contiguity (temporal overlap) of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) as on contingency, the ability of the CS to predict US occurrence1. Associative long-term potentiation (LTP)2, a cellular model of associative learning3,4, occurs in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA)5, the putative locus of plasticity in fear conditioning6. Here we show that associative LTP in LA, like fear conditioning, is sensitive to stimulus contingency.

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Figure 1: Contingency effects on fear conditioning and LTP.
Figure 2: UDs presented immediately before or after pairing impair LTP induction.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by the NIMH grants RO1 MH 46516, KO2 MH00956, R37 MH 39774 and MH 11902-01A1 to J.E.L, and by a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to N.Y.U.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. W.M. Keck Foundation Laboratory of Neurobiology, Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, 10003, New York, USA

    Elizabeth P. Bauer, Joseph E. LeDoux & Karim Nader

Authors
  1. Elizabeth P. Bauer
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  2. Joseph E. LeDoux
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  3. Karim Nader
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Correspondence to Elizabeth P. Bauer.

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Bauer, E., LeDoux, J. & Nader, K. Fear conditioning and LTP in the lateral amygdala are sensitive to the same stimulus contingencies. Nat Neurosci 4, 687–688 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/89465

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