@article{f08784a6abfc4520abeca54913a92a71,
title = "Prefrontal inputs to the amygdala instruct fear extinction memory formation",
abstract = "Persistent anxiety after a psychological trauma is a hallmark of many anxiety disorders. However, the neural circuits mediating the extinction of traumatic fear memories remain incompletely understood. We show that selective, in vivo stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)–amygdala pathway facilitated extinction memory formation, but not retrieval. Conversely, silencing the vmPFC-amygdala pathway impaired extinction formation and reduced extinction-induced amygdala activity. Our data demonstrate a critical instructional role for the vmPFC-amygdala circuit in the formation of extinction memories. These findings advance our understanding of the neural basis of persistent fear, with implications for posttraumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders.",
author = "Olena Bukalo and Pinard, {Courtney R.} and Shana Silverstein and Christina Brehm and Hartley, {Nolan D.} and Nigel Whittle and Giovanni Colacicco and Erica Busch and Sachin Patel and Nicolas Singewald and Andrew Holmes",
note = "Funding Information: We are grateful to A. McDonald for valuable comments and to G. Stuber, E. Sagalyn, K. Kaugars, H. Bergstrom, and M. Reger for technical advice and assistance. Funding: Research supported by NIAAA Intramural Research Program (C.R.P., G.C., and A.H.), Department of Defense in the Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine (O.B., S.S., and A.H.), NIH grants MH103515 and MH090412 (S.P.) and T32 MH064913 (N.D.H.), the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) P25375, and SFB F4410-B19 (N.W., C.B., and N.S.). Author contributions: O.B. performed stereotaxic surgeries and in vivo physiology and behavioral experiments, analyzed the data, and prepared figures. C.R.P., S.S., and E.B. performed immunostaining and imaging and prepared figures. G.C. assisted with establishing stereotaxic injections and optogenetics. C.B. and N.W. performed immediate-early gene immunostaining, analyzed the data, and prepared figures. N.D.H. performed stereotaxic surgeries and electrophysiological recordings in slices, analyzed the data, and prepared figures. S.P., N.S., and A.H. analyzed the data and prepared the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Publisher Copyright: 2015 {\textcopyright} The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science.",
year = "2015",
doi = "10.1126/sciadv.1500251",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "1",
journal = "Science Advances",
issn = "2375-2548",
publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",
number = "6",
}