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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2026

Trace Fear Conditioning in Mice
07:02

Trace Fear Conditioning in Mice

Published on: March 20, 2014

A stable sparse fear memory trace in human amygdala.

Dominik R Bach1, Nikolaus Weiskopf, Raymond J Dolan

  • 1Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom. d.bach@fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|June 24, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Pavlovian fear conditioning involves the amygdala in humans for both initial learning and enduring fear memory storage. Sparse neural coding in the amygdala supports stable fear memory traces, resolving previous research discrepancies.

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 31, 2026

Trace Fear Conditioning in Mice
07:02

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Published on: March 20, 2014

Ex Vivo Optogenetic Dissection of Fear Circuits in Brain Slices
11:13

Ex Vivo Optogenetic Dissection of Fear Circuits in Brain Slices

Published on: April 5, 2016

How to Detect Amygdala Activity with Magnetoencephalography using Source Imaging
10:48

How to Detect Amygdala Activity with Magnetoencephalography using Source Imaging

Published on: June 3, 2013

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Pavlovian fear conditioning is a conserved model of aversive learning across species.
  • Rodent fear memory relies on amygdala storage, but primate models suggest a different mechanism.
  • Previous research proposed primate amygdala involvement only in initial aversive learning phases.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To reexamine the role of the human amygdala in fear memory storage.
  • To investigate if the human amygdala supports enduring fear memory traces.
  • To explore the neural coding underlying fear memory in the human amygdala.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in humans.
  • Applied multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to fMRI data.
  • Assumed and analyzed sparse neural coding within amygdala nuclei.

Main Results:

  • Discriminated responses to conditioned stimuli (CS+ and CS-) in basolateral and centro-cortical amygdala nuclei at the individual subject level.
  • Observed increased discrimination strength over time, correlating with behavioral fear expression.
  • Demonstrated that human amygdala nuclei support both initial learning and enduring fear memory storage.

Conclusions:

  • Human amygdala, specifically basolateral and centro-cortical nuclei, supports enduring fear memory.
  • Sparse neuronal representation of fear, identified via MVPA, explains why enduring memory traces were previously elusive.
  • This finding challenges the proposed model of primate amygdala function in aversive learning.