FEAR

I. Neural substrates

A. Brain structures

1. Amygdala

- Several lines of evidence implicate the lateral amygdala as the site of plasticity for fear conditioning:

i) The lateral amygdala is the first site of convergence of somatosensory (UCS) and auditory (CS) information in the fear-conditioning pathway. (1)

ii) Fear conditioning enhances the auditory-evoked responses of neurons in the lateral amygdala. (2)

iii) These neurons exhibit robust LTP that can contribute to enhanced auditory-evoked responses. (3)

iv) Lesions of the lateral amygdala block fear conditioning. (1)

References:

1) Kim, J. J., & Fanselow, M. S. (1992). Science, 256, 675.

2) Quirk, G. J., Repa, C., & LeDoux, J. E. (1995). Neuron,15, 1029.

3) Rogan, M. T., & LeDoux, J. E. (1995). Neuron, 5, 127.

II. Behavioral indices/paradigms

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III. Areas for study:

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created by C. Patrick

updated on 2-6-97 by J. Curtin