Effects of optogenetic photoexcitation of infralimbic cortex inputs to the basolateral amygdala on conditioned fear and extinction.

ABSTRACT: Deficiencies in the ability to extinguish fear is a hallmark of Trauma- and stressor-related disorders, Anxiety disorders, and certain other neuropsychiatric conditions. Hence, a greater understanding of the brain mechanisms involved in the inhibition of fear is of significant translational relevance. Previous studies in rodents have shown that glutamatergic projections from the infralimbic prefrontal cortex (IL) to basolateral amygdala (BLA) play a crucial instructional role in the formation of extinction memories, and also indicate that variation in the strength of this input correlates with extinction efficacy. To further examine the relationship between the IL→BLA pathway and extinction we expressed three different titers of the excitatory opsin, channelrhodopsin (ChR2), in IL neurons

SUBMITTER: Bukalo O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8299731 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature