A thalamo-amygdalar circuit underlying the extinction of remote fear memories. 2021

Bianca A Silva, and Simone Astori, and Allison M Burns, and Hendrik Heiser, and Lukas van den Heuvel, and Giulia Santoni, and Maria Fernanda Martinez-Reza, and Carmen Sandi, and Johannes Gräff
Laboratory of Neuroepigenetics, Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Fear and trauma generate some of the longest-lived memories. Despite the corresponding need to understand how such memories can be attenuated, the underlying brain circuits remain unknown. Here, combining viral tracing, neuronal activity mapping, fiber photometry, chemogenetic and closed-loop optogenetic manipulations in mice, we show that the extinction of remote (30-day-old) fear memories depends on thalamic nucleus reuniens (NRe) inputs to the basolateral amygdala (BLA). We found that remote, but not recent (1-day-old), fear extinction activates NRe-to-BLA inputs, which become potentiated upon fear reduction. Furthermore, both monosynaptic NRe-to-BLA and total NRe activity increase shortly before freezing cessation, suggesting that the NRe registers and transmits safety signals to the BLA. Accordingly, pan-NRe and pathway-specific NRe-to-BLA inhibition impairs, whereas their activation facilitates, remote fear extinction. These findings identify the NRe as a crucial BLA regulator for extinction and provide the first functional description of the circuits underlying the attenuation of consolidated fear memories.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008810 Mice, Inbred C57BL One of the first INBRED MOUSE STRAINS to be sequenced. This strain is commonly used as genetic background for transgenic mouse models. Refractory to many tumors, this strain is also preferred model for studying role of genetic variations in development of diseases. Mice, C57BL,Mouse, C57BL,Mouse, Inbred C57BL,C57BL Mice,C57BL Mice, Inbred,C57BL Mouse,C57BL Mouse, Inbred,Inbred C57BL Mice,Inbred C57BL Mouse
D009434 Neural Pathways Neural tracts connecting one part of the nervous system with another. Neural Interconnections,Interconnection, Neural,Interconnections, Neural,Neural Interconnection,Neural Pathway,Pathway, Neural,Pathways, Neural
D005108 Extinction, Psychological The procedure of presenting the conditioned stimulus without REINFORCEMENT to an organism previously conditioned. It refers also to the diminution of a conditioned response resulting from this procedure. Psychological Extinction,Extinction (Psychology),Extinctions (Psychology),Extinctions, Psychological,Psychological Extinctions
D005239 Fear The affective response to an actual current external danger which subsides with the elimination of the threatening condition. Threat Cues,Threat Sensitivity,Cue, Threat,Fears,Sensitivity, Threat,Threat Cue,Threat Sensitivities
D000679 Amygdala Almond-shaped group of basal nuclei anterior to the INFERIOR HORN OF THE LATERAL VENTRICLE of the TEMPORAL LOBE. The amygdala is part of the limbic system. Amygdaloid Body,Amygdaloid Nuclear Complex,Amygdaloid Nucleus,Archistriatum,Corpus Amygdaloideum,Intercalated Amygdaloid Nuclei,Massa Intercalata,Nucleus Amygdalae,Amygdalae, Nucleus,Amygdaloid Bodies,Amygdaloid Nuclear Complices,Amygdaloid Nuclei, Intercalated,Amygdaloid Nucleus, Intercalated,Amygdaloideum, Corpus,Amygdaloideums, Corpus,Archistriatums,Complex, Amygdaloid Nuclear,Complices, Amygdaloid Nuclear,Corpus Amygdaloideums,Intercalata, Massa,Intercalatas, Massa,Intercalated Amygdaloid Nucleus,Massa Intercalatas,Nuclear Complex, Amygdaloid,Nuclear Complices, Amygdaloid,Nuclei, Intercalated Amygdaloid,Nucleus, Amygdaloid,Nucleus, Intercalated Amygdaloid
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013788 Thalamus Paired bodies containing mostly GRAY MATTER and forming part of the lateral wall of the THIRD VENTRICLE of the brain. Thalamencephalon,Thalamencephalons
D051379 Mice The common name for the genus Mus. Mice, House,Mus,Mus musculus,Mice, Laboratory,Mouse,Mouse, House,Mouse, Laboratory,Mouse, Swiss,Mus domesticus,Mus musculus domesticus,Swiss Mice,House Mice,House Mouse,Laboratory Mice,Laboratory Mouse,Mice, Swiss,Swiss Mouse,domesticus, Mus musculus
D057567 Memory, Long-Term Remembrance of information from 3 or more years previously. Memory, Longterm,Memory, Remote,Remote Memory,Long-Term Memories,Long-Term Memory,Longterm Memories,Longterm Memory,Memories, Long-Term,Memories, Longterm,Memories, Remote,Memory, Long Term,Remote Memories

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