Basolateral Amygdala Neurons Maintain Aversive Emotional Salience

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Auntora SenguptaGavan P McNally

Abstract

BLA neurons serve a well-accepted role in fear conditioning and fear extinction. However, the specific learning processes related to their activity at different times during learning remain poorly understood. We addressed this using behavioral tasks isolating distinct aspects of fear learning in male rats. We show that brief optogenetic inhibition of BLA neurons around moments of aversive reinforcement or nonreinforcement causes reductions in the salience of conditioned stimuli, rendering these stimuli less able to be learned about and less able to control fear or safety behaviors. This salience reduction was stimulus-specific, long-lasting, and specific to learning about, or responding to, the same aversive outcome, precisely the goals of therapeutic interventions in human anxiety disorders. Our findings identify a core learning process disrupted by brief BLA optogenetic inhibition. They show that a primary function of the unconditioned stimulus-evoked activity of BLA neurons is to maintain the salience of conditioned stimuli that precede it. This maintenance of salience is a necessary precursor for these stimuli to gain and maintain control over fear and safety behavior.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The amygdala is essential for lea...Continue Reading

Citations

Oct 23, 2019·Nature Neuroscience·Sabine KrabbeAndreas Lüthi
Apr 24, 2019·Brain Sciences·Camilla L NordJonathan P Roiser
Mar 3, 2020·Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience·Philip Jean-Richard-Dit-BresselGavan P McNally
Feb 11, 2020·Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience·Michelle R Kapolowicz, Lucien T Thompson
Dec 22, 2020·Neurobiology of Stress·Devin M KellisMarlene A Wilson
Nov 7, 2020·Harvard Review of Psychiatry·Zev Schuman-OlivierCarl Fulwiler
Jan 17, 2021·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Mihaela D IordanovaLaura H Corbit
Oct 7, 2020·Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications·Qian XiaoJie Tu
Aug 25, 2021·Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology·Koilmani Emmanuvel Rajan

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Amygdala: Sensory Processes

Amygdalae, nuclei clusters located in the temporal lobe of the brain, play a role in memory, emotional responses, and decision-making. Here is the latest research on sensory processes in the amygdala.

Amygdala and Midbrain Dopamine

The midbrain dopamine system is widely studied for its involvement in emotional and motivational behavior. Some of these neurons receive information from the amygdala and project throughout the cortex. When the circuit and transmission of dopamine is disrupted symptoms may present. Here is the latest research on the amygdala and midbrain dopamine.

© 2022 Meta ULC. All rights reserved