IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v7y2016i1d10.1038_ncomms11475.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dynamic changes in neural circuitry during adolescence are associated with persistent attenuation of fear memories

Author

Listed:
  • Siobhan S. Pattwell

    (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

  • Conor Liston

    (Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College
    Weill Cornell Medical College
    Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weill Cornell Medical College)

  • Deqiang Jing

    (Weill Cornell Medical College)

  • Ipe Ninan

    (New York University School of Medicine)

  • Rui R. Yang

    (Weill Cornell Medical College)

  • Jonathan Witztum

    (Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College)

  • Mitchell H. Murdock

    (Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College)

  • Iva Dincheva

    (Weill Cornell Medical College)

  • Kevin G. Bath

    (Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University)

  • B. J. Casey

    (Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weill Cornell Medical College)

  • Karl Deisseroth

    (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University)

  • Francis S. Lee

    (Weill Cornell Medical College
    Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology, Weill Cornell Medical College)

Abstract

Fear can be highly adaptive in promoting survival, yet it can also be detrimental when it persists long after a threat has passed. Flexibility of the fear response may be most advantageous during adolescence when animals are prone to explore novel, potentially threatening environments. Two opposing adolescent fear-related behaviours—diminished extinction of cued fear and suppressed expression of contextual fear—may serve this purpose, but the neural basis underlying these changes is unknown. Using microprisms to image prefrontal cortical spine maturation across development, we identify dynamic BLA-hippocampal-mPFC circuit reorganization associated with these behavioural shifts. Exploiting this sensitive period of neural development, we modified existing behavioural interventions in an age-specific manner to attenuate adolescent fear memories persistently into adulthood. These findings identify novel strategies that leverage dynamic neurodevelopmental changes during adolescence with the potential to extinguish pathological fears implicated in anxiety and stress-related disorders.

Suggested Citation

  • Siobhan S. Pattwell & Conor Liston & Deqiang Jing & Ipe Ninan & Rui R. Yang & Jonathan Witztum & Mitchell H. Murdock & Iva Dincheva & Kevin G. Bath & B. J. Casey & Karl Deisseroth & Francis S. Lee, 2016. "Dynamic changes in neural circuitry during adolescence are associated with persistent attenuation of fear memories," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-9, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms11475
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11475
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms11475
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms11475?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dylan G. Gee & Lucinda M. Sisk & Emily M. Cohodes & Nessa V. Bryce, 2022. "Leveraging the science of stress to promote resilience and optimize mental health interventions during adolescence," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-5, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms11475. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.