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A neuronal basis for fear discrimination in the lateral amygdala

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Grosso

    (University of Turin)

  • Giulia Santoni

    (University of Turin)

  • Eugenio Manassero

    (University of Turin)

  • Annamaria Renna

    (University of Turin)

  • Benedetto Sacchetti

    (University of Turin
    National Institute of Neuroscience - Turin)

Abstract

In the presence of new stimuli, it is crucial for survival to react with defensive responses in the presence of stimuli that resemble threats but also to not react with defensive behavior in response to new harmless stimuli. Here, we show that in the presence of new uncertain stimuli with sensory features that produce an ambiguous interpretation, discriminative processes engage a subset of excitatory and inhibitory neurons within the lateral amygdala (LA) that are partially different from those engaged by fear processes. Inducing the pharmacogenetic deletion of this neuronal ensemble caused fear generalization but left anxiety-like response, fear memory and extinction processes intact. These data reveal that two opposite neuronal processes account for fear discrimination and generalization within the LA and suggest a potential pathophysiological mechanism for the impaired discrimination that characterizes fear-related disorders.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Grosso & Giulia Santoni & Eugenio Manassero & Annamaria Renna & Benedetto Sacchetti, 2018. "A neuronal basis for fear discrimination in the lateral amygdala," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-03682-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03682-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Allen P. F. Chen & Lu Chen & Kaiyo W. Shi & Eileen Cheng & Shaoyu Ge & Qiaojie Xiong, 2023. "Nigrostriatal dopamine modulates the striatal-amygdala pathway in auditory fear conditioning," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Huiling Yu & Liping Chen & Huiyang Lei & Guilin Pi & Rui Xiong & Tao Jiang & Dongqin Wu & Fei Sun & Yang Gao & Yuanhao Li & Wenju Peng & Bingyu Huang & Guoda Song & Xin Wang & Jingru Lv & Zetao Jin & , 2022. "Infralimbic medial prefrontal cortex signalling to calbindin 1 positive neurons in posterior basolateral amygdala suppresses anxiety- and depression-like behaviours," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.

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