Optical activation of lateral amygdala pyramidal cells instructs associative fear learning
- 25 June 2010
- journal article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 107 (28), 12692-12697
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1002418107
Abstract
Humans and animals can learn that specific sensory cues in the environment predict aversive events through a form of associative learning termed fear conditioning. This learning occurs when the sensory cues are paired with an aversive event occurring in close temporal proximity. Activation of lateral amygdala (LA) pyramidal neurons by aversive stimuli is thought to drive the formation of these associative fear memories; yet, there have been no direct tests of this hypothesis. Here we demonstrate that viral-targeted, tissue-specific expression of the light-activated channelrhodopsin (ChR2) in LA pyramidal cells permitted optical control of LA neuronal activity. Using this approach we then paired an auditory sensory cue with optical stimulation of LA pyramidal neurons instead of an aversive stimulus. Subsequently presentation of the tone alone produced behavioral fear responses. These results demonstrate in vivo optogenetic control of LA neurons and provide compelling support for the idea that fear learning is instructed by aversive stimulus-induced activation of LA pyramidal cells.This publication has 61 references indexed in Scilit:
- Bilateral phosphorylation of ERK in the lateral and centrolateral amygdala during unilateral storage of fear memoriesNeuroscience, 2009
- Functional Imaging of Stimulus Convergence in Amygdalar Neurons during Pavlovian Fear ConditioningPLOS ONE, 2009
- The basolateral amygdala modulates specific sensory memory representations in the cerebral cortexNeurobiology of Learning and Memory, 2009
- Increasing CREB in the auditory thalamus enhances memory and generalization of auditory conditioned fearLearning & Memory, 2008
- Rapid strengthening of thalamo-amygdala synapses mediates cue–reward learningNature, 2008
- Macromolecular synthesis, distributed synaptic plasticity, and fear conditioningNeurobiology of Learning and Memory, 2008
- Sparse optical microstimulation in barrel cortex drives learned behaviour in freely moving miceNature, 2008
- Expectation Modulates Neural Responses to Pleasant and Aversive Stimuli in Primate AmygdalaNeuron, 2007
- THE AMYGDALA MODULATES THE CONSOLIDATION OF MEMORIES OF EMOTIONALLY AROUSING EXPERIENCESAnnual Review of Neuroscience, 2004
- Channelrhodopsin-2, a directly light-gated cation-selective membrane channelProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2003