Department of KM Science Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM), 1672 Yuseong-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34054, Korea.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Mar 25;23(7):3582. doi: 10.3390/ijms23073582.
Fear memory helps animals and humans avoid harm from certain stimuli and coordinate adaptive behavior. However, excessive consolidation of fear memory, caused by the dysfunction of cellular mechanisms and neural circuits in the brain, is responsible for post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety-related disorders. Dysregulation of specific brain regions and neural circuits, particularly the hippocampus, amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex, have been demonstrated in patients with these disorders. These regions are involved in learning, memory, consolidation, and extinction. These are also the brain regions where new neurons are generated and are crucial for memory formation and integration. Therefore, these three brain regions and neural circuits have contributed greatly to studies on neural plasticity and structural remodeling in patients with psychiatric disorders. In this review, we provide an understanding of fear memory and its underlying cellular mechanisms and describe how neural circuits are involved in fear memory. Additionally, we discuss therapeutic interventions for these disorders based on their proneurogenic efficacy and the neural circuits involved in fear memory.
恐惧记忆帮助动物和人类避免受到某些刺激的伤害，并协调适应性行为。然而，由于大脑中细胞机制和神经回路的功能障碍，过度巩固的恐惧记忆是创伤后应激障碍和焦虑相关障碍的原因。在这些疾病患者中已经证明了特定脑区和神经回路的失调，特别是海马体、杏仁核和内侧前额叶皮层。这些区域参与学习、记忆、巩固和遗忘。它们也是产生新神经元的大脑区域，对于记忆形成和整合至关重要。因此，这三个脑区和神经回路极大地促进了对精神疾病患者神经可塑性和结构重塑的研究。在这篇综述中，我们提供了对恐惧记忆及其潜在细胞机制的理解，并描述了神经回路如何参与恐惧记忆。此外，我们还根据其促进神经发生的功效和涉及恐惧记忆的神经回路讨论了这些疾病的治疗干预措施。
