Extinction of relapsed fear does not require the basolateral amygdala.
Neurobiol Learn Mem
; 139: 149-156, 2017 Mar.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28109822
ABSTRACT
It is well established that extinguished fears are restored with the passage of time or a change in physical context. These fear restoration phenomena are believed to mimic the conditions under which relapse occurs in patients that have been treated for anxiety disorders by means of cue-exposure therapy. Here, we used a rodent model to extinguish relapsed fear and assess whether this new extinction prevents further relapse. We found that activity in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) is required to initially extinguish conditioned fear, but this activity was not necessary to subsequently extinguish relapsed fear. That is, extinction of spontaneously recovered or renewed fear was spared by BLA inactivation. Yet, this BLA-independent learning of extinction did not protect against further relapse extinction of relapsed fear conducted without BLA activity was still likely to return after the passage of time or a shift in physical context. These findings have important clinical implications. They indicate that pharmacological agents with anxiolytic properties may disrupt initial cue-exposure therapy but may be useful when therapy is again needed due to relapse. However, they also suggest that these agents will not protect against further relapse, implying the need for developing drugs that target other brain regions involved in fear inhibition.
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Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Condicionamento Clássico
/
Extinção Psicológica
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Medo
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Complexo Nuclear Basolateral da Amígdala
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Neurobiol Learn Mem
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA
/
CIENCIAS DO COMPORTAMENTO
/
NEUROLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article