Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
Journal Year:
2025,
Volume and Issue:
122(18)
Published: April 28, 2025
The
extinction
of
conditioned
fear
responses
is
crucial
for
adaptive
behavior,
and
its
impairment
a
hallmark
anxiety
disorders
such
as
posttraumatic
stress
disorder.
Fear
takes
place
when
animals
form
new
memory
that
suppresses
the
original
memory.
In
case
context-dependent
memory,
formed
within
reward-responding
posterior
subset
basolateral
amygdala
(BLA)
genetically
marked
by
Ppp1r1b
+
neurons.
These
engram
cells
suppress
activity
fear-responding
Rspo2
present
in
anterior
BLA,
hence
extinction.
However,
neurological
nature
teaching
signal
instructs
formation
neurons
unknown.
Here,
we
demonstrate
ventral
tegmental
area
(VTA)
dopaminergic
signaling
drives
distinct
BLA
neuronal
populations.
We
show
populations
receive
topographically
divergent
inputs
from
VTA
via
differentially
expressed
dopamine
receptors.
Fiber
photometry
recordings
reveal
(DA)
time-locked
to
freezing
cessation
neurons,
but
not
Furthermore,
this
correlates
with
learning.
Finally,
using
projection-specific
optogenetic
manipulation,
find
activation
DA
projections
reward
accelerated
or
impaired
extinction,
respectively.
Together,
work
demonstrates
bidirectionally
controls
patterns
at
Nature Communications,
Journal Year:
2025,
Volume and Issue:
16(1)
Published: Jan. 2, 2025
The
nucleus
accumbens
(NAc)
is
a
key
brain
region
for
motivated
behaviors,
yet
how
distinct
neuronal
populations
encode
appetitive
or
aversive
stimuli
remains
undetermined.
Using
microendoscopic
calcium
imaging
in
mice,
we
tracked
NAc
shell
D1-
D2-medium
spiny
neurons'
(MSNs)
activity
during
exposure
to
of
opposing
valence
and
associative
learning.
Despite
drift
individual
coding,
both
D2-population
was
sufficient
discriminate
unconditioned
stimuli,
but
not
predictive
cues.
Notably,
D2-MSNs
were
similarly
co-recruited
conditioning,
supporting
concurrent
role
Conversely,
when
contingencies
changed,
there
an
asymmetric
response
the
NAc,
with
more
pronounced
changes
D2-MSNs.
Optogenetic
manipulation
provided
causal
evidence
necessity
this
population
extinction
associations.
Our
results
reveal
neurons
valence,
Pavlovian
associations
their
extinction,
unveil
mechanisms
underlying
behaviors.
rewarding
Here,
authors
show
that
appeared
be
relevant
Dopamine
(DA)
neurons
are
to
encode
reward
prediction
error
(RPE),
in
addition
other
signals,
such
as
salience.
While
RPE
is
known
support
learning,
the
role
of
salience
learning
remains
less
clear.
To
address
this,
we
recorded
and
manipulated
VTA
DA
mice
during
fear
extinction.
We
applied
deep
classify
mouse
freezing
behavior,
eliminating
need
for
human
scoring.
Our
fiber
photometry
recordings
showed
medial
lateral
have
distinct
activity
profiles
extinction:
more
closely
reflected
RPE,
while
a
salience-like
signal.
Optogenetic
inhibition
either
region
slowed
extinction,
with
relevant
time
period
differing
across
regions.
results
indicate
signals
can
similar
downstream
consequences
RPE-like
although
different
temporal
dependencies.
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience,
Journal Year:
2022,
Volume and Issue:
15
Published: Jan. 6, 2022
Behavioral
flexibility
is
critical
to
survival.
Animals
must
adapt
their
behavioral
responses
based
on
changes
in
the
environmental
context,
internal
state,
or
experience.
Studies
Drosophila
melanogaster
have
provided
insight
into
neural
circuit
mechanisms
underlying
flexibility.
Here
we
discuss
how
behavior
modulated
by
and
learning.
We
describe
general
principles
of
organization
modulation
that
underlie
flexibility,
are
likely
extend
other
species.
Nature Communications,
Journal Year:
2022,
Volume and Issue:
13(1)
Published: Sept. 21, 2022
Abstract
Threat
and
extinction
memories
are
crucial
for
organisms’
survival
in
changing
environments.
These
believed
to
be
encoded
by
separate
ensembles
of
neurons
the
brain,
but
their
whereabouts
remain
elusive.
Using
an
auditory
fear-conditioning
paradigm
male
mice,
here
we
discovered
that
two
distinct
projection
neuron
subpopulations
physical
proximity
within
insular
cortex
(IC),
targeting
central
amygdala
(CeA)
nucleus
accumbens
(NAc),
respectively,
encode
fear
memories.
Reciprocal
intracortical
inhibition
these
IC
gates
emergence
either
or
memory.
rabies-virus-assisted
tracing,
found
IC-NAc
preferentially
innervated
intercortical
inputs
from
orbitofrontal
(OFC),
specifically
enhancing
override
results
demonstrate
serves
as
operation
node
harboring
decipher
memory
under
top-down
executive
control
OFC.