Generalization of Conditioned Auditory Fear is Regulated by Maternal Effects on Ventral Hippocampal Synaptic Plasticity.

ABSTRACT: Maternal care shapes individual differences in fear-associated neural circuitry. In rats, maternal licking and grooming (LG) in early life regulates ventral hippocampal (VH) function and plasticity in adulthood, but its consequent effect on the regulation of fear memories remains unknown. We report an effect of maternal care on generalization of learned fear, such that offspring of high LG mothers express generalized fear responses when confronted with neutral stimuli following auditory fear conditioning. These animals simultaneously display a reduction in the magnitude of VH long-term potentiation (LTP) expressed and reduced input-output transformation in Schaffer collateral synapses. Inhibition of VH-LTP during learning specifically increases fear generalization in offspring of low LG mo

SUBMITTER: Nguyen HB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5916357 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature