Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Maulbeerstrasse 66, 4058 Basel, Switzerland.
Nature. 2010 Nov 11;468(7321):277-82. doi: 10.1038/nature09559.
The central amygdala (CEA), a nucleus predominantly composed of GABAergic inhibitory neurons, is essential for fear conditioning. How the acquisition and expression of conditioned fear are encoded within CEA inhibitory circuits is not understood. Using in vivo electrophysiological, optogenetic and pharmacological approaches in mice, we show that neuronal activity in the lateral subdivision of the central amygdala (CEl) is required for fear acquisition, whereas conditioned fear responses are driven by output neurons in the medial subdivision (CEm). Functional circuit analysis revealed that inhibitory CEA microcircuits are highly organized and that cell-type-specific plasticity of phasic and tonic activity in the CEl to CEm pathway may gate fear expression and regulate fear generalization. Our results define the functional architecture of CEA microcircuits and their role in the acquisition and regulation of conditioned fear behaviour.
中央杏仁核（CEA）主要由 GABA 能抑制性神经元组成，是恐惧条件反射所必需的。在 CEA 抑制性回路中，如何对条件性恐惧的获得和表达进行编码尚不清楚。本研究使用活体电生理、光遗传学和药理学方法在小鼠中进行研究，结果表明，中央杏仁核外侧亚区（CEl）的神经元活动对于恐惧获得是必需的，而条件性恐惧反应则由内侧亚区（CEm）的输出神经元驱动。功能回路分析显示，CEA 微回路具有高度的组织性，并且 CEl 到 CEm 通路中相位和紧张活动的细胞类型特异性可塑性可能可以控制恐惧表达，并调节恐惧泛化。本研究结果定义了 CEA 微回路的功能结构及其在条件性恐惧行为的获得和调节中的作用。
