Article
Neurosciences
Annalise N. Binette, Jianfeng Liu, Hugo Bayer, Kennedi L. Crayton, Laila Melissari, Samantha O. Sweck, Stephen Maren
Summary: Stress has a significant impact on fear extinction and affects the activity of PV interneurons in the mPFC. PV interneurons regulate extinction learning under stress in a sex-dependent manner, and this effect is mediated by amygdaloprefrontal projections.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Ka H. Ng, Susan Sangha
Summary: Cues in the environment can affect fear and reward-seeking behaviors, with safety cues reducing fear. Previous research showed that the infralimbic prefrontal cortex plays a role in suppressing fear during safety cues. This study aimed to investigate safety cue-specific neural activity in the infralimbic cortex using a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm. The results showed that neurons were excited by both fear and safety cues, with some neurons being excited by both fear and reward cues and some showing bidirectional responses. Neural activity was also negatively correlated with freezing behavior. These findings emphasize the importance of the infralimbic cortex in encoding specific aspects of conditioned inhibitors during active fear suppression.
Article
Neurosciences
Weronika Szadzinska, Konrad Danielewski, Kacper Kondrakiewicz, Karolina Andraka, Evgeni Nikolaev, Marta Mikosz, Ewelina Knapska
Summary: Fear extinction training gradually changes the vHIP-PL connectivity, allowing for fear suppression. In the absence of fear suppression from the vHIP, signals from the BL play a dominant role, resulting in heightened fear levels.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Jessica A. Babb, Agnieszka Zuberer, Stephen Heinrichs, Kendra K. Rumbika, Lauren Alfiler, Gabrielle A. Lakis, Kimberly A. Leite-Morris, Gary B. Kaplan
Summary: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently co-occur in both military and civilian populations. In a mouse model of mTBI, fear learning and neural systems involved in fear extinction were examined. LFP 1.7 mice demonstrated within-session aberrant fear extinction and alterations in brain morphology and dendritic plasticity.
BRAIN RESEARCH BULLETIN
(2023)
Review
Neurosciences
Christine Stubbendorff, Carl W. Stevenson
Summary: Research has shown that dopamine plays a crucial role in regulating various contextual fear processes, although the related neurochemical mechanisms are still not fully understood. Understanding how dopamine regulates contextual fear can provide novel insights into the neurochemical modulation of neural circuit function underlying memory processing.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Andries Van Schuerbeek, Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt, Chris Baeken, Anouk Pierre, Ilse Smolders, Vincent Van Waes, Dimitri De Bundel
Summary: This study explored the effects of repeated anodal tDCS over the prefrontal cortex on fear extinction in mice, finding that tDCS significantly lowered freezing during extinction acquisition with high fear conditioning intensity. Combining tDCS with a strong extinction protocol also improved early extinction recall, and tDCS reduced generalized fear induced by contextual cues with high conditioning intensity and limited extinction training.
Review
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Yongmin Sung, Bong-Kiun Kaang
Summary: Fear memory recruits multiple brain regions and causes subcellular events throughout the brain. Different regions within the medial prefrontal cortex play distinct roles in different fear memory states. Recent studies have shown that memory trace cells in these regions may contribute preferentially to processing specific fear memory. Understanding the molecular, synaptic, and cellular events in the medial prefrontal cortex during different memory stages is important for comprehending fear memory.
EXPERIMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Mayumi Watanabe, Akira Uematsu, Joshua P. Johansen
Summary: Recording local field potentials from the prelimbic cortex (PL) and infralimbic cortex (IL) of awake behaving rats during extinction of auditory fear memories revealed an increase in LFP power in the fast gamma frequency, as well as enhanced synchronization between PL and IL in the fast gamma frequency over the course of extinction. These findings support the hypothesis that interregional interactions between PL and IL increase as animals extinguish aversive memories.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elisabetta Baldi, Alessia Costa, Barbara Rani, Maria Beatrice Passani, Patrizio Blandina, Adele Romano, Gustavo Provensi
Summary: Exposure-based therapy is the main approach for treating pathological fear and anxiety symptoms; however, relapses are common due to the demanding and lengthy process. Combining cognitive therapy with pharmacological agents may improve efficacy. Oxytocin has shown anxiolytic effects and may strengthen inhibitory associations in fear extinction, with receptors found in critical brain regions for fear behavior.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Briana K. Chen, Gwenaelle Le Pen, Adam Eckmier, Gilles Rubinstenn, Therese M. Jay, Christine A. Denny
Summary: The study showed that compared to memantine, fluoroethylnormemtantine (FENM) did not produce nonspecific side effects in animal experiments, reduced immobility in the forced swim test, and significantly facilitated fear extinction learning.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Silvia Maggi, Mark D. Humphries
Summary: In this study, the researchers found that the neural population activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPfC) of rats learning a task is represented in different low-dimensional subspaces during trials and intertrial intervals (ITI). These subspaces encode distinct task features and are reactivated during sleep. The findings provide insights into how the brain represents and processes information about different states of the world.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Han-Qing Pan, Xiao-Xuan Liu, Ye He, Jin Zhou, Cai-Zhi Liao, Wen-Jie You, Si-Ying Jiang, Xia Qin, Wen-Bing Chen, Er-Kang Fei, Wen-Hua Zhang, Bing-Xing Pan
Summary: This study reveals the unconventional and permissive role of extrasynaptic GABA(A) receptors in fear extinction through a route relying on nonsynaptic plasticity. The expression and function of GABA(A)(δ)R in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are positively correlated with fear extinction, and knockdown of GABA(A)(δ)R in the mPFC impairs fear extinction. Mechanistically, GABA(A)(δ)R enables the extinction-evoked plastic regulation of neuronal excitability in mPFC projection neurons.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Olena Bukalo, Mio Nonaka, Chase A. Weinholtz, Adriana Mendez, William W. Taylor, Andrew Holmes
Summary: The study investigates the role of the infralimbic cortex to basolateral amygdala pathway in fear extinction, finding that optogenetic stimulation of IL neurons projecting to BLA at different titers produces varying effects on extinction memory formation and fear suppression. This highlights the importance of the IL -> BLA pathway in fear regulation and emphasizes methodological factors in optogenetic studies of neural circuits underlying behavior.
BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
K. S. Zimmermann, R. Richardson, K. D. Baker
Summary: The amygdala and prefrontal cortex undergo significant changes in structure, function, and regional connectivity in early life. The functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala undergoes fundamental changes across development, which may contribute to adolescent impairments in extinction.
NEUROBIOLOGY OF LEARNING AND MEMORY
(2023)
Review
Neurosciences
Vuk Markovic, Carmelo M. Vicario, Fatemeh Yavari, Mohammad A. Salehinejad, Michael A. Nitsche
Summary: Anxiety disorders are prevalent mental disorders and current treatments are moderately successful. Non-invasive brain stimulation methods like rTMS and tDCS have shown potential in modulating fear memory and extinction, particularly when applied over the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. More research is needed to optimize stimulation parameters and protocols for future research and treatment.
FRONTIERS IN HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Teresa H. Wen, Jonathan W. Lovelace, Iryna M. Ethell, Devin K. Binder, Khaleel A. Razak
Article
Neurosciences
Jonathan W. Lovelace, Maham Rais, Arnold R. Palacios, Xinghao S. Shuai, Steven Bishay, Otilia Popa, Patricia S. Pirbhoy, Devin K. Binder, David L. Nelson, Iryna M. Ethell, Khaleel A. Razak
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elizabeth A. McCullagh, Sarah E. Rotschafer, Benjamin D. Auerbach, Achim Klug, Leonard K. Kaczmarek, Karina S. Cramer, Randy J. Kulesza, Khaleel A. Razak, Jonathan W. Lovelace, Yong Lu, Ursula Koch, Yuan Wang
Article
Neurosciences
Anna O. Kulinich, Sarah M. Reinhard, Maham Rais, Jonathan W. Lovelace, Veronica Scott, Devin K. Binder, Khaleel A. Razak, Iryna M. Ethell
NEUROBIOLOGY OF DISEASE
(2020)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Patricia S. Pirbhoy, Maham Rais, Jonathan W. Lovelace, Walker Woodard, Khaleel A. Razak, Devin K. Binder, Iryna M. Ethell
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2020)
Article
Neurosciences
Carrie R. Jonak, Jonathan W. Lovelace, Iryna M. Ethell, Khaleel A. Razak, Devin K. Binder
NEUROBIOLOGY OF DISEASE
(2020)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Jenny I. Szu, Dillon D. Patel, Som Chaturvedi, Jonathan W. Lovelace, Devin K. Binder
Article
Neurosciences
Jonathan W. Lovelace, Iryna M. Ethell, Devin K. Binder, Khaleel A. Razak
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2020)
Article
Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology
J. A. Rumschlag, J. W. Lovelace, K. A. Razak
Summary: Brain oscillations are associated with specific cognitive and sensory processes, and age-related hearing loss may alter cortical oscillations, leading to speech recognition impairments. Resting and evoked gamma oscillations may decline with presbycusis. Observing these changes in EEG may serve as biomarkers for presbycusis.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Alexander Shaver, Nandini Kundu, Brian E. Young, Philip A. Vieira, Jonathan T. Sczepanski, Netzahualcoyotl Arroyo-Curras
Summary: Electrochemical aptamer-based sensors have the potential for real-time monitoring of drug concentrations in the body, but their in vivo operational life is limited by time-dependent degradation of the bioelectronic interface. The dominant cause of signal loss in these sensors is the loss of monolayer elements rather than nuclease hydrolysis of DNA aptamers.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Patricia S. Pirbhoy, Carrie R. Jonak, Rashid Syed, Donovan A. Argueta, Pedro A. Perez, Mark B. Wiley, Keon Hessamian, Jonathan W. Lovelace, Khaleel A. Razak, Nicholas DiPatrizio, Iryna M. Ethell, Devin K. Binder
Summary: Increasing 2-AG levels may serve as a potential therapeutic approach to normalize cortical responses and improve behavioral outcomes in Fragile X syndrome (FXS) and possibly other Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Treatment with JZL-184 resulted in a reduction of abnormal cortical responses and improved behavioral phenotypes in Fmr1 KO mice, indicating the potential efficacy of targeting endocannabinoid modulation for treating FXS and ASD.
JOURNAL OF NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
(2021)
Correction
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Alexander Shaver, Nandini Kundu, Brian E. Young, Philip A. Vieira, Jonathan T. Sczepanski, Netzahualcoyotl Arroyo-Curras
Article
Neurosciences
Maham Rais, Jonathan W. Lovelace, Xinghao S. Shuai, Walker Woodard, Steven Bishay, Leo Estrada, Ashwin R. Sharma, Austin Nguy, Anna Kulinich, Patricia S. Pirbhoy, Arnold R. Palacios, David L. Nelson, Khaleel A. Razak, Iryna M. Ethell
Summary: This study provides insights into the role of excitatory neurons in the abnormal development of PV cells in Fragile X syndrome mice. Deleting or re-expressing FMRP in excitatory neurons is sufficient to elicit or ameliorate cortical deficits and abnormal behaviors.
NEUROBIOLOGY OF DISEASE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Andrew J. Holley, Aleya Shedd, Anna Boggs, Jonathan Lovelace, Craig Erickson, Christina Gross, Miranda Jankovic, Khaleel Razak, Kimberly Huber, Jay R. Gibson
Summary: The study found that Fmr1 deletion in brainstem neurons is necessary for certain aspects of the decreased phase-locking phenotype in the Fmr1 KO mouse, but not necessary for the increase in non-phase-locked power induced by sound. Reinstating FMRP in brainstem neurons can rescue specific EEG phenotypes, but not all.
NEUROBIOLOGY OF DISEASE
(2022)
Correction
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Alexander Shaver, Nandini Kundu, Brian E. Young, Philip A. Vieira, Jonathan T. Sczepanski, Netzahualcoyotl Arroyo-Curras