Article
|
Open Access
Featured
-
-
Article
| Open AccessA thalamic-hippocampal CA1 signal for contextual fear memory suppression, extinction, and discrimination
The role of the Nucleus Reuniens (NR)-CA1 pathway in contextual fear conditioning remains unknown. Here, the authors show that the NR-CA1 pathway transmits a signal that actively suppresses fear memory retrieval in CA1 during fearful behavior.
- Heather C. Ratigan
- , Seetha Krishnan
- & Mark E. J. Sheffield
-
Article
| Open AccessActivity-dependent organization of prefrontal hub-networks for associative learning and signal transformation
Neuronal populations in the prefrontal cortex are involved in associative learning. Here the authors use longitudinal imaging and computational approaches in the mouse prefrontal cortex to observe changes in neuronal ensembles during fear conditioning.
- Masakazu Agetsuma
- , Issei Sato
- & Takeharu Nagai
-
Article
| Open AccessVentromedial prefrontal neurons represent self-states shaped by vicarious fear in male mice
Observational fear is accompanied by both freezing and escape behavior in rodents. Here, the authors show that ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) inhibition disrupts escape behavior specifically, and that vmPFC neural activity represents intermingled information of other- and self-states.
- Ziyan Huang
- , Myung Chung
- & Teruhiro Okuyama
-
Article
| Open AccessTopographic representation of current and future threats in the mouse nociceptive amygdala
Adaptive behavior requires using both memories and ongoing experience. Here, the authors find that amygdala neurons topographically encode sensory stimuli including predicted versus ongoing threats to contribute to appropriate behaviors.
- Anna J. Bowen
- , Y. Waterlily Huang
- & Richard D. Palmiter
-
Article
| Open AccessHippocampus as a sorter and reverberatory integrator of sensory inputs
How the hippocampus sorts and integrates multiple sensory inputs during learning remains unclear. Here, the authors found that the hippocampus uses reverberatory activity to link conditioned and unconditioned stimuli and to avoid crosstalk during sensory inputs.
- Masanori Nomoto
- , Emi Murayama
- & Kaoru Inokuchi
-
Article
| Open AccessReactivating hippocampal-mediated memories during reconsolidation to disrupt fear
The hippocampus is a brain region critically involved in memory. In this study, the authors demonstrate that reactivating hippocampal neurons associated with positive memories can disrupt a fear response in mice.
- Stephanie L. Grella
- , Amanda H. Fortin
- & Steve Ramirez
-
Article
| Open AccessPACAP-PAC1R modulates fear extinction via the ventromedial hypothalamus
The PACAP-PAC1R neuropeptide system regulates neuroendocrine stress responses. Here the authors demonstrate a role for PACAP-PAC1R in ventromedial hypothalamus in modulating fear extinction.
- E. R. Velasco
- , A. Florido
- & R. Andero
-
Article
| Open AccessBrain-wide mapping reveals that engrams for a single memory are distributed across multiple brain regions
Where memories are located in our brains is not well understood. In this paper, the authors demonstrate that memories are spread out throughout multiple brain regions.
- Dheeraj S. Roy
- , Young-Gyun Park
- & Susumu Tonegawa
-
Article
| Open AccessDe novo inter-regional coactivations of preconfigured local ensembles support memory
The authors show that fear-memory-related cell-ensembles in the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex are inter-regionally co-activated in post-learning sleep. The co-activations are hosted by fast network oscillations and re-appear during recall.
- Hiroyuki Miyawaki
- & Kenji Mizuseki
-
Article
| Open AccessNeuronal activity in sensory cortex predicts the specificity of learning in mice
The neural mechanisms underpinning the specificity of fear memories remains poorly understood. Here, the authors highlight how neural activity prior to fear learning impacts fear memory specificity.
- Katherine C. Wood
- , Christopher F. Angeloni
- & Maria N. Geffen
-
Article
| Open AccessRemote control of neural function by X-ray-induced scintillation
Scintillators emit visible luminescence when irradiated with X-rays and may enable remote optogenetic control of neurons deep in the brain. The authors inject an inorganic scintillator to activate and inhibit midbrain dopamine neurons in freely moving mice by X-ray irradiation to modulate place preference behavior.
- Takanori Matsubara
- , Takayuki Yanagida
- & Takayuki Yamashita
-
Article
| Open AccessSynaptic plasticity-dependent competition rule influences memory formation
Cellular activity level at the time of learning is thought to be a critical factor to determine which neurons are recruited to encode memory. Here, the authors show that competitive synaptic plasticity mechanisms influence which neurons will encode a fear memory.
- Yire Jeong
- , Hye-Yeon Cho
- & Jin-Hee Han
-
Article
| Open AccessSaturated free fatty acids and association with memory formation
Changes in poly-unsaturated free fatty acids (FFAs) have been associated with LTP. Here, using lipidomics analysis the authors characterise FFA changes in the rat brain associated with fear conditioning, and demonstrate that increases in saturated FFAs represent the major change.
- Tristan P. Wallis
- , Bharat G. Venkatesh
- & Frédéric A. Meunier
-
Article
| Open AccessSex differences in fear memory consolidation via Tac2 signaling in mice
The Tachykinin 2 (Tac2) pathway in the central amygdala is sufficient and necessary for modulating fear memory consolidation. The authors show that silencing Tac2 neurons in the amygdala of male mice reduces fear expression, while fear expression in female mice is increased when manipulations are made during proestrus.
- A. Florido
- , E. R. Velasco
- & R. Andero
-
Article
| Open AccessSingle cell plasticity and population coding stability in auditory thalamus upon associative learning
How thalamic sensory relays participate in plasticity upon associative fear learning and stable long-term sensory coding remains unknown. The authors show that auditory thalamus neurons exhibit heterogeneous plasticity patterns after learning while population level encoding of auditory stimuli remains stable across days.
- James Alexander Taylor
- , Masashi Hasegawa
- & Jan Gründemann
-
Article
| Open AccessContextual fear memory retrieval by correlated ensembles of ventral CA1 neurons
The vCA1-BA projection is enriched in shock responsive neurons, which are necessary for fear memory encoding and become correlated with a network of neurons during retrieval. Here the authors show that the magnitude of vCA1 correlated activity is proportional to memory strength and requires the shock response during encoding.
- Jessica C. Jimenez
- , Jack E. Berry
- & Rene Hen
-
Article
| Open AccessExcitatory VTA to DH projections provide a valence signal to memory circuits
The neuronal pathway that signals the positive or negative value of memories is not well understood. Here, the authors report that an excitatory projection from the ventral tegmental area to the dorsal hippocampus carries the valence information, contributing, especially in females, to the recurrence of fear and to drug seeking behavior.
- Yuan Han
- , Yi Zhang
- & Jelena Radulovic
-
Article
| Open AccessPersistent activation of central amygdala CRF neurons helps drive the immediate fear extinction deficit
Learned conditioned fear associations can be weakened (extinction learning), but extinction is less effective if performed too soon after the original fear conditioning. Here, the authors show that persistent activation of CRF-expressing neurons in the central amygdala is involved in the early fear extinction deficit.
- Yong S. Jo
- , Vijay Mohan K. Namboodiri
- & Larry S. Zweifel
-
Article
| Open AccessDopamine-dependent prefrontal reactivations explain long-term benefit of fear extinction
The success of extinction learning is not predictive of long-term retrieval of an extinction memory. Using fMRI to study consolidation of fear extinction in human subjects, the authors show that reactivation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex during memory retrieval predicts extinction memory retrieval, and that increasing dopaminergic signaling increases the number of these activations.
- A. M. V. Gerlicher
- , O. Tüscher
- & R. Kalisch
-
Article
| Open AccessOlfactory inputs modulate respiration-related rhythmic activity in the prefrontal cortex and freezing behavior
Nasal airflow and olfactory bulb activity are linked to oscillations in cortical areas. This study shows olfactory input and respiration are correlated with oscillation in the prefrontal cortex during freezing behavior in mice, and attenuation of olfactory inputs can increase behavioral freezing.
- Andrew H. Moberly
- , Mary Schreck
- & Minghong Ma
-
Article
| Open AccessPharmacologically induced amnesia for learned fear is time and sleep dependent
Emotional memory can change when retrieved, yet the conditions under which this can occur are not fully described. Here, authors show that taking a pill of propranolol taken during a specific time window can change the expression of fear memory in a person, and that sleep is necessary to forget learned fear.
- Merel Kindt
- & Marieke Soeter
-
Article
| Open AccessA neuronal basis for fear discrimination in the lateral amygdala
When perceiving new stimuli, organisms need to distinguish between threats versus harmless stimuli. Here, the authors find a set of cells in the lateral amygdala that is required to discriminate or generalize new auditory stimuli based on similarity to previously fear-associate sounds.
- Anna Grosso
- , Giulia Santoni
- & Benedetto Sacchetti
-
Article
| Open AccessInhibitory gain modulation of defense behaviors by zona incerta
Zona incerta (ZI) is an inhibitory subthalamic nucleus with diverse connectivity yet its functional importance has not been extensively studied. Here the authors report that ZI receives mPFC input and can modulate both innate and learned defensive behaviors via its inhibitory projection to the PAG.
- Xiao-lin Chou
- , Xiyue Wang
- & Huizhong Whit Tao
-
Article
| Open AccessHotspots of dendritic spine turnover facilitate clustered spine addition and learning and memory
Structural remodeling of dendritic spines is thought to be a mechanism of memory storage. Here, the authors look at how spine turnover and clustering predict future learning and memory performance, and see that a genetically modified mouse with enhanced spine turnover has enhanced learning.
- Adam C. Frank
- , Shan Huang
- & Alcino J. Silva
-
Article
| Open AccessThe interhemispheric CA1 circuit governs rapid generalisation but not fear memory
Previous work has documented a slow form of memory generalization although a rapid one is demanded. Here the authors elucidate the role of the interhemispheric CA1-CA1 projection in a form of rapid generalization of contextual fear memory via gradual potentiation of these synapses over 24 h.
- Heng Zhou
- , Gui-Jing Xiong
- & Lin Xu
-
Article
| Open AccessHIPP neurons in the dentate gyrus mediate the cholinergic modulation of background context memory salience
Intra-hippocampal circuits are essential for associating a background context with behaviorally salient stimuli and involve cholinergic modulation at SST+ interneurons. Here the authors show that the salience of the background context memory is modulated through muscarinic activation of NPY+ hilar perforant path associated interneurons and NPY signaling in the dentate gyrus.
- Syed Ahsan Raza
- , Anne Albrecht
- & Oliver Stork
-
Article
| Open AccessEndogenous opioids regulate social threat learning in humans
Though humans often learn about negative outcomes from observing the response of others, the neurochemistry underlying this learning is unknown. Here, authors show that blocking opioid receptors enhances social threat learning and describe the brain regions underlying this effect.
- Jan Haaker
- , Jonathan Yi
- & Andreas Olsson
-
Article
| Open AccessAmygdala-hippocampal dynamics during salient information processing
Amygdala and hippocampus are involved in processing motivationally salient stimuli but the precise circuit dynamics of the interaction is not understood. Here the authors show that in response to fearful faces in humans, theta/alpha oscillations in the amygdala modulate hippocampal activity dynamics.
- Jie Zheng
- , Kristopher L. Anderson
- & Jack J. Lin
-
Article
| Open AccessDynamic changes in neural circuitry during adolescence are associated with persistent attenuation of fear memories
Flexible fear-related responses may be advantageous in adolescence. Here the authors use microprisms to image prefrontal cortical spine maturation across development and report that plasticity in adolescent fear extinction responses is associated with dynamic reorganization in the amygdalahippocampal-PFC circuit.
- Siobhan S. Pattwell
- , Conor Liston
- & Francis S. Lee
-
Article
| Open AccessThe higher order auditory cortex is involved in the assignment of affective value to sensory stimuli
The auditory cortex Te2 represents a key node for the assignment of the affective value to sensory stimuli in rodents. Using pharmacogenetic manipulations, this study shows that in Te2 there are neurons which respond to the emotional valence of sounds and their inactivation impairs emotional memories retrieval.
- Anna Grosso
- , Marco Cambiaghi
- & Benedetto Sacchetti
-
Article
| Open AccessVoxel-based morphometry predicts shifts in dendritic spine density and morphology with auditory fear conditioning
Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) involves comparisons of high resolution structural images of the brain between groups, but what causes changes in the VBM signal is unclear. Here the authors perform a VBM study of Thy1-YFP mice following auditory fear conditioning and propose that the signal changes can be partially explained by increases in dendritic spine density.
- O. P. Keifer Jr
- , R. C. Hurt
- & K. J. Ressler
-
Article
| Open AccessProcessing of visually evoked innate fear by a non-canonical thalamic pathway
The ability of animals to respond to life-threatening stimuli is critical for survival, yet the neural circuits mediating innate defensive behaviors are not well understood. Here, the authors reveal a novel collicular–thalamic–amygdala circuit critical for innate defensive responses to visual threats.
- Pengfei Wei
- , Nan Liu
- & Liping Wang
-
Article |
Functionally diverse dendritic mRNAs rapidly associate with ribosomes following a novel experience
Dendritic protein synthesis is implicated in synaptic plasticity and memory storage. Ainsley et al., develop a method for collecting ribosome-bound mRNAs from mouse brain dendrites, and use RNA sequencing to characterize dendritic mRNAs that bind to ribosomes after mice experience a novel environment.
- Joshua A. Ainsley
- , Laurel Drane
- & Leon G. Reijmers
-
Article |
Learning-induced and stathmin-dependent changes in microtubule stability are critical for memory and disrupted in ageing
The microtubule-associated protein stathmin is implicated in cognitive processing but it is unclear how. Here, the authors show that stathmin regulates microtubule stability and dendritic transport of specific AMPA receptor subunits, and that this regulation is impaired in aged mice.
- Shusaku Uchida
- , Guillaume Martel
- & Gleb P. Shumyatsky
-
Article
| Open AccessA cholinergic trigger drives learning-induced plasticity at hippocampal synapses
Cholinergic signalling modulates learning and memory; however, its influence on learning-induced synaptic plasticity is less clear. Mitsushima et al.show that acetylcholine simultaneously strengthens both excitatory and inhibitory synapses onto CA1 pyramidal neurons following an inhibitory avoidance task.
- Dai Mitsushima
- , Akane Sano
- & Takuya Takahashi
-
Article |
Behavioural memory reconsolidation of food and fear memories
Memory retrieval followed by extinction training has been shown to erase fear memories. Flavellet al. show that this approach also erases appetitive memories in rats and results from a modification of memory reconsolidation, which could be useful for the treatment of drug addiction.
- Charlotte R. Flavell
- , David J. Barber
- & Jonathan L.C. Lee