Inhibitory interneurons: Fear conditioning/extinction

描述(由申请者提供)：经典恐惧条件反射中厌恶的CS-US配对的学习和恐惧反应的消退都严重依赖于杏仁核的发生。此外，有几条证据表明，消亡学习并不是简单地抹去最初的恐惧记忆，而是一种截然不同的平行学习形式，它抑制了对条件性恐惧反应的表达。因此，似乎有两种形式的学习发生在杏仁基底外侧核，它们通过杏仁核(中央核)的输出对条件性恐惧的表达产生相反的影响。我们假设，这两种形式的学习将在兴奋性和抑制性神经元的亚群中产生不同的第二信使和转录因子激活模式，这些亚群构成了杏仁核基底外侧复合体(BLA)的联想学习回路。此外，我们假设，通过使用针对BLA神经元的一个特定亚群的药物和遗传操作，我们可能能够选择性地改变这两种类型的学习中的一种，同时保持另一种不变。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Both the learning of an aversive CS-US pairing in classical fear conditioning and the extinction of a fear response critically rely on the amygdala to occur. Additionally, several lines of evidence suggest that extinction learning is not simply an erasure of the original fear memory, but a distinct and parallel form of learning that suppresses the expression of the conditioned fear response. Thus there appear to be two forms of learning that occur in the basolateral amygdala which have opposing effects on the expression of conditioned fear through the output of the amygdala (the central nucleus). We hypothesize that these two forms of learning will produce differential patterns of second-messenger and transcription factor activation within the sub-populations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons that constitute the associative learning circuit in the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA). Furthermore, we hypothesize that by using pharmacologic and genetic manipulations targeting one particular sub-population of BLA neurons, we may be able to selectively alter one of these two types of learning while leaving the other intact.