NMDA receptors in the CeA and BNST differentially regulate fear conditioning to predictable and unpredictable threats.

ABSTRACT: Considerable work demonstrates that Pavlovian fear conditioning depends on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent plasticity within the amygdala. In addition, the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) has also been implicated in fear conditioning, particularly in the expression of fear to poor predictors of threat. We recently found that the expression of backward (BW) fear conditioning, in which an auditory conditioned stimulus (CS) follows a footshock unconditioned stimulus (US), requires the BNST; the expression of forward (FW) fear conditioning was not disrupted by BNST inactivation. However, whether NMDA receptors within the BNST contribute to the acquisition of fear conditioning is unknown. Moreover, the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), which has extensive connecti

SUBMITTER: Ressler RL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7484222 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature