Fear conditioning articles within Nature

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spatial and single-cell transcriptomic analyses of the mouse basolateral amygdala reveal transcriptomic signatures, spatial resolution and interactions of cells that constitute the memory engram, including crucial neuron–astrocyte interactions.

    • Wenfei Sun
    • , Zhihui Liu
    •  & Stephen R. Quake

  • Article |

    Studies in mice show that observational fear learning is encoded by neurons in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in a manner that is distinct from the encoding of fear learned by direct experience.

    • Shana E. Silverstein
    • , Ruairi O’Sullivan
    •  & Andrew Holmes

  • Article |

    Use of a head-mounted miniature microscope in awake, behaving mice reveals that neural ensembles in the basal and lateral amygdala encode associations between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli in a way that matches models of supervised learning.

    • Benjamin F. Grewe
    • , Jan Gründemann
    •  & Mark J. Schnitzer

  • Letter |

    Dissociating early from late fear memory retrieval in rats reveals that while the projection from the prelimbic prefrontal cortex to the amygdala is critical for fear memory retrieval at early time points, a separate circuit involving the paraventricular region of the dorsal midline thalamus is critical for fear memory retrieval at late time points, establishing the paraventricular region as a critical maintenance/retrieval node during the transition from short- to long-term fear memory.

    • Fabricio H. Do-Monte
    • , Kelvin Quiñones-Laracuente
    •  & Gregory J. Quirk

  • Letter |

    Inhibiting projections from the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus to a specific division of the amygdala prevents fear conditioning in mice, indicating an important role for the thalamus–amygdala circuit in establishing and maintaining fear responses.

    • Mario A. Penzo
    • , Vincent Robert
    •  & Bo Li

  • Letter |

    The authors identify a specific histone variant as a memory-suppressor that is initially reduced in expression within the hippocampus during memory formation; as a memory is consolidated to the cortex, reduced histone association with specific plasticity genes is observed, promoting stabilization of the memory.

    • Iva B. Zovkic
    • , Brynna S. Paulukaitis
    •  & J. David Sweatt

  • Article |

    Plasticity within neuronal microcircuits is believed to be the substrate of learning, and this study identifies two distinct disinhibitory mechanisms involving interactions between PV+ and SOM+ interneurons that dynamically regulate principal neuron activity in the amygdala and thereby control auditory fear learning.

    • Steffen B. E. Wolff
    • , Jan Gründemann
    •  & Andreas Lüthi

  • Letter |

    Single-unit recordings and optogenetic manipulations in mice undergoing auditory fear conditioning show that fear expression is related to the phasic inhibition of prefrontal cortex (PFC) parvalbumin interneurons; inhibition disinhibits PFC projection neurons and synchronizes their firing, leading to fear expression.

    • Julien Courtin
    • , Fabrice Chaudun
    •  & Cyril Herry

  • Article |

    The central amygdala relies on inhibitory circuitry to encode fear memories, but how this information is acquired and expressed in these connections is unknown. Two new papers use a combination of cutting-edge technologies to reveal two distinct microcircuits within the central amygdala, one required for fear acquisition and the other critical for conditioned fear responses. Understanding this architecture provides a strong link between activity in a specific circuit and particular behavioural consequences.

    • Wulf Haubensak
    • , Prabhat S. Kunwar
    •  & David J. Anderson

  • Article |

    The central amygdala relies on inhibitory circuitry to encode fear memories, but how this information is acquired and expressed in these connections is unknown. Two new papers use a combination of cutting-edge technologies to reveal two distinct microcircuits within the central amygdala, one required for fear acquisition and the other critical for conditioned fear responses. Understanding this architecture provides a strong link between activity in a specific circuit and particular behavioural consequences.

    • Stephane Ciocchi
    • , Cyril Herry
    •  & Andreas Lüthi

  • News & Views |

    Retrieving a memory initiates a window of vulnerability for that memory. Simple behavioural methods can modify distressing memories during this window, eliminating fear reactions to traumatic reminders.

    • Gregory J. Quirk
    •  & Mohammed R. Milad

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