Differential Age-dependent Mechanisms of High-frequency Stimulation-induced Potentiation in the Prefrontal Cortex-Basolateral Amygdala Pathway Following Fear Extinction.

Post-weaning is a critical period for brain maturation in the rat and is comparable to childhood and adolescences in humans. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are two brain regions that continue to mature during post-weaning and establish a critical circuit regulating the acquisition and extinction of conditioned fear. We previously demonstrated that exposure to stress leads to significant differences between adults and PWs in the kinetics of extinction behavior as well as differential effects on long-term potentiation.

Perturbation of GABAergic Synapses at the Axon Initial Segment of Basolateral Amygdala Induces Trans-regional Metaplasticity at the Medial Prefrontal Cortex.

GABAergic synapses in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) play an important role in fear memory generation. We have previously reported that reduction in GABAergic synapses innervating specifically at the axon initial segment (AIS) of principal neurons of BLA, by neurofascin (NF) knockdown, impairs fear extinction. BLA is bidirectionally connected with the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which is a key region involved in extinction of acquired fear memory.

Dissociation in the effects of stress and D1 receptors activation on basolateral amygdalar LTP in juvenile and adult animals.

Post-weaning or juvenility is a critical developmental stage during which neural structures as the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and amygdala and the neurotransmitter systems undergo major reorganization and thus are susceptible to the effects of environmental factors. Interactions between the mPFC and the amygdala are critical for fear regulation. Changes in plasticity in the projections from the mPFC to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) were previously shown following stress and fear.

Differences in stress-induced changes in extinction and prefrontal plasticity in postweanling and adult animals.

Background: Postweaning is a critical developmental stage during which the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) undergoes major changes and the brain is vulnerable to the effects of stress. Surprisingly, the engagement of the mPFC in extinction of fear was reported to be identical in postweanling (PW) and adult animals. Here, we examined whether the effect of stress on extinction and mPFC plasticity would be similar in PW and adult animals.