Cholinergic signaling to CA1 astrocytes controls fear extinction.

ABSTRACT: Fear extinction is an evolutionarily conserved biological process that allows an organism to better re-adapt; its deficits can lead to psychiatric disorders. Fear extinction is considered to rely mostly on neuronal function. However, whether and how astrocytes contribute to fear extinction is largely unknown. Here, we show that hippocampal CA1 astrocytes exhibit de novo Ca²⁺ dynamics during fear extinction. Inhibition of these astrocytic Ca²⁺ dynamics impairs, while their activation facilitates, fear extinction. In this regulation of fear extinction, the posterior basal forebrain (pBF) cholinergic input to hippocampus drives CA1 astrocytic Ca²⁺ dynamics through the activation of α4 and α7 subunits of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Clinically used acetyl

SUBMITTER: Li Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11970469 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature