Publication year: 2012
Source: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Available online 2 January 2012
Caitlin A. Orsini, Stephen Maren
Over the course of natural history, countless animal species have evolved adaptive behavioral systems to cope with dangerous situations and promote survival. Emotional memories are central to these defense systems because they are rapidly acquired and prepare organisms for future threat. Unfortunately, the persistence and intrusion of memories of fearful experiences are quite common and can lead to pathogenic conditions, such as anxiety and phobias. Over the course of the last thirty years, neuroscientists and psychologists alike have attempted to understand the mechanisms by which the brain encodes and maintains these aversive memories. Of equal interest, though, is the neurobiology of extinction memory formation as this may shape current therapeutic techniques. Here we review the extant literature on the neurobiology of fear and extinction memory formation, with a strong focus on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these processes.
Highlights
► Fear memory formation requires synaptic changes within the amygdala and hippocampus. ► Synaptic changes corresponding with memory formation are thought to be dependent on long-term potentiation and a variety of intracellular signaling cascades that result in both pre- and postsynaptic modifications. ► Extinction memory formation is mediated by a distributed neural circuit, including the amygdala, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. ► The expression of extinction is context-specific, which has important implications for clinical interventions targeting pathogenic conditions, such as post-traumatic disorder.Júlio Leonardo B. Pereira
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