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Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear
11:17

Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear

Published on: August 24, 2012

Extinction partially reverts structural changes associated with remote fear memory.

Gisella Vetere1, Leonardo Restivo, Giovanni Novembre

  • 1Cell Biology and Neurobiology Institute, National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy.

Learning & Memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.)
|August 17, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Extinction learning partially reshapes remote fear memory circuits in the medial prefrontal cortex. Synaptic changes in the anterior cingulate cortex and infralimbic cortex are altered, potentially influencing fear reactivation.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Memory Research
  • Synaptic Plasticity

Background:

  • Structural synaptic changes in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are crucial for remote memory formation.
  • It remains unknown if memory extinction reverses or further modifies these established neural circuits.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of extinction learning on synaptic structures within the anterior cingulate cortex (aCC) and infralimbic cortex (ILC) of the mPFC.
  • To determine how these structural changes relate to the persistence or modification of remote contextual fear memories.

Main Methods:

  • Utilizing contextual fear conditioning in rodents.
  • Analyzing dendritic spine density and morphology in the aCC and ILC at 36 days post-conditioning.
  • Assessing structural changes following extinction training.

Main Results:

  • Following fear conditioning, both aCC and ILC showed enhanced spine number and size.
  • After extinction, aCC spine density returned to baseline, but the proportion of large spines persisted.
  • In the ILC, spine density remained elevated, yet spine size was significantly reduced.

Conclusions:

  • Memory extinction partially remodels the remote fear memory network in the mPFC.
  • Distinct structural modifications in the aCC and ILC suggest differential roles in memory persistence and extinction.
  • The preserved network properties may underlie the potential reactivation of extinguished fear responses.