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Prefrontal-amygdala plasticity enabled by observational fear.

ABSTRACT: Observing fear in others (OF) is a form of social stress. In mice, it enhances inhibitory avoidance learning and causes the formation of silent synapses in the prefrontal-amygdala pathway. Here, we report that OF made that pathway prone to facilitation both ex vivo and in vivo. Ex vivo, OF enabled induction of long-term potentiation (LTP), expressed mostly postsynaptically and occluded by inhibitory avoidance training. In vivo, OF enabled facilitation of the dmPFC-BLA pathway by inhibitory avoidance training. The facilitation persisted during the first 4?h after the training when the prefrontal cortex and amygdala are involved in memory consolidation. Thus, the OF-generated silent synapses likely enable plasticity that may enhance the consolidation of inhibitory avoidance memories.

SUBMITTER: Ito W

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6785088 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Prefrontal-amygdala plasticity enabled by observational fear.

Ito Wataru W Morozov Alexei A

Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 20190213 10

Observing fear in others (OF) is a form of social stress. In mice, it enhances inhibitory avoidance learning and causes the formation of silent synapses in the prefrontal-amygdala pathway. Here, we report that OF made that pathway prone to facilitation both ex vivo and in vivo. Ex vivo, OF enabled induction of long-term potentiation (LTP), expressed mostly postsynaptically and occluded by inhibitory avoidance training. In vivo, OF enabled facilitation of the dmPFC-BLA pathway by inhibitory avoid ...[more]

PMID: 30759453

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