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Fear Learning and Extinction
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Fear Learning and Extinction

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Questions and Answers

What is the primary role of the thalamus in the fear learning process?

  • Transmits sensory information to the amygdala (correct)
  • Regulates emotional responses
  • Inhibits fear responses
  • Facilitates memory recall

    • How do lesions in the sensory thalamic nuclei affect fear learning?

  • Impair the ability to acquire fear conditioning (correct)
  • No effect on conditioning
  • Enhance fear acquisition
  • Facilitate fear extinction

    • What is the function of intercalated cells in the context of fear responses?

  • Regulate blood flow during fear responses
  • Enhance sensory processing
  • Promote aggressive behaviors
  • Inhibit neuronal firing in the amygdala (correct)

    • Which role does the hippocampus play in fear learning?

    <p>Aids in contextual fear learning</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement is true regarding the pathways of fear learning?

    <p>There are both direct and indirect pathways to the amygdala from sensory inputs</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What effect does disrupting sensory information flow have on fear extinction?

    <p>Makes it harder to learn that a stimulus is no longer predictive of danger</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which defense behavior is suggested to depend on the predatory imminence gradient?

    <p>Conditioned freezing</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary role of the infralimbic cortex in fear regulation?

    <p>Mediates fear extinction.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What effect do lesions in the amygdala have on fear learning?

    <p>No learning of conditioned stimuli.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How do intercalated cells function in the context of fear responses?

    <p>They modulate the expression of fear responses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What role does the hippocampus play in contextual fear learning?

    <p>It is crucial for distinguishing between contexts during extinction.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following accurately describes the paths of fear learning processes?

    <p>The association between CS and US is processed by the central nucleus of the amygdala.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What role does the infralimbic cortex (IL) play in fear processes?

    <p>Inhibits amygdala activity and promotes suppression of conditioned fear responses</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How do lesions in the prelimbic cortex (PL) affect fear responses?

    <p>Prevents the expression of conditioned fear responses</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the function of intercalated cells (ITC) within the amygdala?

    <p>Acts as gatekeepers that inhibit the expression of fear responses</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What impact do lesions of the hippocampus have on fear responses?

    <p>They impair contextual fear conditioning and extinction</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which pathway allows for faster fear learning with less information being processed?

    <p>Direct pathway from the thalamus to the amygdala</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one consequence of lesions in the basolateral amygdala (BLA)?

    <p>Impairs emotional memory processing related to fear</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What effect do lesions of the ventrolateral PAG (vlPAG) have on fear responses?

    <p>Results in the failure to reduce fear responses even with repeated exposure</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does the hippocampus contribute to the modulation of fear extinction?

    <p>By processing contextual information and emotional states</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens to fear responses when activity of the infralimbic cortex (IL) increases?

    <p>Fear responses are suppressed due to inhibition of the CeA</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What distinguishes the indirect pathway to the amygdala from the direct pathway?

    <p>It carries more information</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following behaviours is NOT a part of the fear response system?

    <p>Predation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    The perirhinal cortex is primarily involved in auditory information processing.

    <p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the role of the thalamus in fear learning?

    <p>It acts as a sensory relay center that transmits sensory information to the amygdala.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Conditioned freezing is characterized by behaviors such as ________ and a crouched posture.

    <p>immobility</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Match the brain area with its function in fear learning:

    <p>Thalamus = Sensory information relay to the amygdala Amygdala = Processing of fear responses Hippocampus = Contextual fear memory Perirhinal Cortex = Object recognition and visual processing</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the role of the central nucleus of the amygdala in fear conditioning?

    <p>It orchestrates conditioned responses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Neural circuits involved in fear extinction are solely located in the hippocampus.

    <p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens to fear neurons during the first day of extinction?

    <p>Fear neurons show response to the tone.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    The hippocampus is crucial for ________ of fear after extinction learning.

    <p>renewal</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Match the following terms with their definitions:

    <p>Fear Acquisition = Learning to associate a stimulus with a fearful event Fear Extinction = Reduction in the conditioned response over time Spontaneous Recovery = Re-emergence of fear response after a delay Renewal = Reappearance of fear response in a different context</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What phenomenon occurs when a footshock is given without the conditioned stimulus?

    <p>Reinstatement</p> Signup and view all the answers

    The basal amygdala is responsible for encoding fear acquisition only.

    <p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

    During full extinction on Day 3, what occurs with fear neurons?

    <p>Fear neurons do not show responses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What role does the lateral amygdala (LA) play in fear learning?

    <p>It helps with encoding the CS-US association.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    The central amygdala (CeA) is responsible for suppressing fear responses.

    <p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which brain region is crucial for facilitating fear expression during fear conditioning?

    <p>Prelimbic cortex (PL)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Lesions of the _____ prevent animals from being able to suppress conditioned fear responses.

    <p>infralimbic cortex</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Match the following brain structures with their roles in fear response:

    <p>Amygdala = Central to fear learning and emotional memories Hippocampus = Contextual fear learning Prefrontal Cortex = Modulates fear responses PAG = Mediates physiological fear responses</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following best describes the role of the basolateral amygdala (BLA)?

    <p>Integrates inputs and modulates emotional responses</p> Signup and view all the answers

    The thalamus sends information directly to the amygdala as part of the indirect pathway.

    <p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary function of the intercalated cells (ITC) in the amygdala?

    <p>Control the flow of fear response information</p> Signup and view all the answers

    The _____ is involved in fear extinction by integrating emotional and contextual information.

    <p>hippocampus</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Match the following lesion effects with their consequences:

    <p>Lesion of LA = Impairment in fear learning Lesion of BLA = Difficulty in modulating emotional responses Lesion of CeA = Disruption in expressing fear responses Lesion of IL = Prevention of fear extinction</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one consequence of lesions in the ventrolateral PAG (vlPAG)?

    <p>Impaired fear extinction</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Fear responses can be expressed without a corresponding fear memory.

    <p>True</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which pathway allows for slower, but more refined learning of fear responses?

    <p>Indirect pathway</p> Signup and view all the answers

    The _____ cortex facilitates fear expression by maintaining amygdala activity during fear conditioning.

    <p>prelimbic</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Fear Learning

    • Assessment of Fear Conditioning:
      • Habituation: Absence of stimulation
      • Conditioning: Conditioned Stimulus (CS) paired with Unconditioned Stimulus (US), leading to Unconditioned Response (UR)
      • Testing: CS presented, eliciting Conditioned Response (CR)
    • Conditioned Freezing: Immobility, crouched posture with arched spine.
      • Footshock: Few trials needed for CS-US association
      • Rescorla-Wagner Model: Corresponds to the beta value (salience)
    • Fear as a Defensive System:
      • Orchestrates adaptive behaviours for protection.
      • Species-specific Defence Responses: Freezing, flight, fight, analgesia, autonomic arousal
      • Predatory Imminence Gradient: Determines which behaviour is expressed based on perceived threat level.

    Neurobiology of Fear Learning

    • Brain Areas:
      • Thalamus: Sensory relay center, transmitting sensory information (auditory, visual, somatosensory) to the amygdala.
        • Medial Geniculate Nucleus (MGN): Sends auditory information.
        • Direct and Indirect Pathways to the Amygdala:
          • Direct: Thalamus directly to amygdala.
          • Indirect: Thalamus to prefrontal cortex to amygdala.
    • Lesion Effects:
      • Fear Learning: Lesions in sensory thalamic nuclei impair fear conditioning.
        • Disruption of sensory inputs essential for CS-US association.
      • Fear Extinction: Disrupting sensory flow to amygdala hampers learning that the stimulus is no longer predictive of danger.

    Perirhinal Cortex

    • Role: Object recognition, visual information processing, integrates complex sensory information.
    • Interaction: With amygdala and hippocampus to modulate fear responses.
    • Outputs:
      • Projects to basolateral amygdala (BLA), providing detailed sensory input.
        • Aids in associating complex stimuli (CS) with aversive outcomes (US).
      • Projects to hippocampus, processing information about the context of fear learning and extinction.
        • Distinguishes between threatening and non-threatening contexts.
      • Projects to amygdala, refining fear response extinction when the stimulus no longer predicts danger.
    • Lesion Effects:
      • Fear Learning: Impairs forming detailed associations between specific objects or stimuli and aversive events.
      • Fear Extinction: Interferes with extinction learning, failing to update fear responses appropriately when the CS no longer predicts a threat.

    Amygdala

    • Central to fear learning: Processes and stores emotional memories, particularly fear-related stimuli.
    • Lateral Amygdala (LA): Receives sensory inputs related to CS and US from the thalamus and sensory cortex.
      • Encodes the CS-US association.
    • Basolateral Amygdala (BLA): Integrates inputs from LA and other brain regions (hippocampus and prefrontal cortex).
      • Modulates emotional responses.
    • Central Amygdala (CeA): Sends outputs to the hypothalamus and brainstem to trigger fear responses (e.g., increased heart rate, freezing).
      • Projects to regions responsible for autonomic and behavioral fear responses:
        • Periaqueductal Gray (PAG): Freezing.
        • Hypothalamus: Hormonal stress responses.
    • Lesion Effects:
      • LA or BLA Lesions: Impair acquisition and expression of fear learning.
      • CeA Lesions: Disrupt expression of fear responses (e.g., freezing), but not necessarily the acquisition of fear memories.

    Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)

    • Inputs: Amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus.
      • Integrates information about emotional states, context, and sensory inputs.
    • Outputs:
      • Projects to the amygdala (BLA and intercalated cells (ITC)), modulating fear responses.
      • Connects to the hypothalamus and PAG, controlling physiological and behavioral fear responses.
    • Infralimbic Cortex (IL/IF) and Prelimbic Cortex (PL): Key role in fear regulation and fear extinction.
      • IL: Crucial for fear extinction.
        • Inhibits amygdala activity and suppresses conditioned fear responses.
      • PL: Facilitates fear expression by maintaining amygdala activity during fear conditioning.
    • Lesion Effects:
      • IL/IF Lesions: Prevent fear extinction.
      • PL Lesions: Impair conditioned fear expression.

    Intercalated Cells (ITC)

    • Gatekeepers: Control information flow within the amygdala (CeA).
    • GABAergic neurons: Inhibit other neurons, reducing fear expression.
    • Fear Extinction: IL/IF activity increases, stimulating ITCs, inhibiting CeA, and suppressing the fear response.
    • Fear Expression: PL and BLA activity reduce ITCs, disinhibiting CeA and expressing fear.

    Hippocampus

    • Contextual Fear Learning: Helps modulate fear extinction by providing information about the context of fear memory acquisition.
      • Distinguishes between contexts where fear is appropriate or not.
    • Inputs: Receives sensory, contextual information from cortical areas and amygdala.
    • Outputs: Projects back to amygdala (BLA) and PFC, regulating appropriate fear responses in context.
    • Lesion Effects:
      • Impair contextual fear conditioning: Difficulty associating fear responses with specific contexts.
      • Disrupt contextual fear extinction: Fail to differentiate between fear-inducing and non-fear-inducing environments.

    Periaqueductal Gray (PAG)

    • Involvement: Mediates behavioral and physiological fear responses (e.g., freezing, autonomic changes).
      • Ventrolateral PAG (vlPAG): Fear extinction.
      • Dorsal PAG (dPAG): Fear expression.
    • Inputs: Amygdala (CeA), hypothalamus, and PFC.
    • Outputs: Brainstem and spinal cord, controlling defensive behaviors (freezing, fight-or-flight) and autonomic regulation.
    • Lesion Effects:
      • vlPAG Lesions: Impair fear extinction.
      • dPAG Lesions: Can reduce fear response expression (freezing) but may not impair learning of fear.

    Pathways

    • Direct Pathway: Thalamus to Amygdala.
      • Fast learning but carries less information.
    • Indirect Pathway: Thalamus to PFC to Amygdala.
      • Slower learning but more refined.

    Discrete Neutral Stimuli in Fear Conditioning

    • Aim: Determine if sensory information about the CS travels via a direct thalamic-amygdalar pathway or a thalamocortical pathway.
    • Method: Disconnection lesions.
      • Lesion auditory thalamus in one hemisphere.
      • Lesion medial portion of MG.
      • Lesion A1.
      • Lesion in MGm and MGv.
    • Brain Areas:
      • MG - medial geniculate nucleus.
      • PIN – posterior intralaminar nucleus.
      • SG – suprageniculate nucleus.
      • MGm, PIN, SG project directly to amygdala.
      • MGv projects to auditory cortex.
    • Results: All groups except for full lesion (MGm & AUx) show high arterial pressure.
      • Minimal sympathetic nervous system activation for full lesion.
      • Both pathways are sufficient for learning.
      • Neither pathway is necessary.

    Tone and Context Processing

    • Non-legioned:
      • Explicit CS: Freezing on the second day, but not to context.
      • Explicit CS + Context: Freezing on the third day.
    • Amygdala legion: No learning to CS.
    • Cortex lesion:
      • Hippocampus:
        • Learn freezing to CS.
        • Cannot learn about context.

    Amygdala and Fear Responses

    • When CS-US associations are formed, conditioned responses are orchestrated by the central nucleus of the amygdala.
    • Sensory information converges on the lateral and basal nuclei of the amygdala where association formation takes place.
    • Once associations are formed, conditioned responses are orchestrated via the central nucleus and its output to the midbrain (PAG).
    • Opioid-mediated modulation of learning.

    Fear Extinction

    • Extinction: Reduction in Conditioned Response (CR) over time.
    • Distinct Neuron Populations: BA neurons encode fear conditioning and extinction.
      • Day 1 (Habituation): Neither fear nor extinction neurons are strongly activated by the tone.
      • Day 2 (First day of extinction): Fear neurons respond to the tone; extinction neurons do not.
      • Day 3 (Full extinction): Fear neurons do not respond; extinction neurons do.
    • Basal Amygdala: Fear learning and extinction measures.
    • Connections to Infralimbic Cortex:
      • Prelimbic: Fear acquisition.
      • Infralimbic: Fear extinction.
    • Connections to Central Nucleus:

    Spontaneous Recovery

    • Long interval: Rebound in freezing to CS.
    • Short interval: Small rebound in freezing.
    • Evidence for new learning: Extinction is not forgetting but new learning.
      • Spontaneous recovery: Memory re-emerges later.
      • Renewal: Freezing re-emerges when the animal switches to a new context, even after extinction.
      • Reinstatement: Providing a footshock (not following the CS), immediately leads to freezing after the CS.

    Neural Circuits of Fear Extinction

    • CS-noUS Association: New connections develop that suppress expression of the original CS-US association by the central nucleus of the amygdala.
    • Context and CS: Regulate extinction neurons in the basal nucleus and infralimbic cortex, switching ON ITCb cells and inhibiting the central nucleus.

    Hippocampus and Fear Extinction

    • Important for Renewal:
      • Same Context: Low response.
      • Different Context: High response.

    Two Spontaneous Recovery Hypotheses

    • First Hypothesis:

    • Second Hypothesis:

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