RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Prefrontal inputs to the amygdala instruct fear extinction memory formation
JF Science Advances
JO Sci Adv
FD American Association for the Advancement of Science
SP e1500251
DO 10.1126/sciadv.1500251
VO 1
IS 6
A1 Bukalo, Olena
A1 Pinard, Courtney R.
A1 Silverstein, Shana
A1 Brehm, Christina
A1 Hartley, Nolan D.
A1 Whittle, Nigel
A1 Colacicco, Giovanni
A1 Busch, Erica
A1 Patel, Sachin
A1 Singewald, Nicolas
A1 Holmes, Andrew
YR 2015
UL http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/6/e1500251.abstract
AB Persistent anxiety after a psychological trauma is a hallmark of many anxiety disorders. However, the neural circuits mediating the extinction of traumatic fear memories remain incompletely understood. We show that selective, in vivo stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)–amygdala pathway facilitated extinction memory formation, but not retrieval. Conversely, silencing the vmPFC-amygdala pathway impaired extinction formation and reduced extinction-induced amygdala activity. Our data demonstrate a critical instructional role for the vmPFC-amygdala circuit in the formation of extinction memories. These findings advance our understanding of the neural basis of persistent fear, with implications for posttraumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders.