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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear
Published on: August 24, 2012
Changes in amygdala neural activity that occur with the extinction of context-dependent conditioned fear stress
Takeshi Izumi1, Takeshi Inoue, Akiko Kato
1Department of Neuropharmacology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15, West 7, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan. psyizumi@med.hokudai.ac.jp
Abstract:
The purpose of the present study was to characterize functional changes in the amygdala that accompany the extinction of context-dependent conditioned fear stress in a rat, an animal model of anxiety. Specifically, the effect of extinction of conditioned fear-induced cyclic AMP responsive element-binding protein (CREB) phosphorylation in the amygdala was investigated using immunohistochemistry. Experiments demonstrated that CREB phosphorylation in the basal nucleus of the amygdala decreased with the extinction of context-dependent conditioned fear-induced freezing behavior. These data suggest that the basal nucleus of the amygdala plays an essential role in the expression of context-dependent conditioned fear. Further, this is the first study to demonstrate that CREB phosphorylation in the basal nucleus of the amygdala changes in parallel with the extinction of context-dependent conditioned fear.
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