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Deep brain stimulation of the amygdala alleviates fear conditioning-induced alterations in synaptic plasticity in the cortical–amygdala pathway and fear memory

  • Neurology and Preclinical Neurological Studies - Original Article
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Abstract

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the amygdala has been demonstrated to modulate hyperactivity of the amygdala, which is responsible for the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and thus might be used for the treatment of PTSD. However, the underlying mechanism of DBS of the amygdala in the modulation of the amygdala is unclear. The present study investigated the effects of DBS of the amygdala on synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity at cortical inputs to the amygdala, which is critical for the formation and storage of auditory fear memories, and fear memories. The results demonstrated that auditory fear conditioning increased single-pulse-evoked field excitatory postsynaptic potentials in the cortical–amygdala pathway. Furthermore, auditory fear conditioning decreased the induction of paired-pulse facilitation and long-term potentiation, two neurophysiological models for studying short-term and long-term synaptic plasticity, respectively, in the cortical–amygdala pathway. In addition, all these auditory fear conditioning-induced changes could be reversed by DBS of the amygdala. DBS of the amygdala also rescued auditory fear conditioning-induced enhancement of long-term retention of fear memory. These findings suggested that DBS of the amygdala alleviating fear conditioning-induced alterations in synaptic plasticity in the cortical–amygdala pathway and fear memory may underlie the neuromodulatory role of DBS of the amygdala in activities of the amygdala.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11179015, 51173108) and Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (12ZZ143) to L. Sui.

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  1. School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 516 Jun Gong Road, Shanghai, 200093, People’s Republic of China

    Li Sui, SiJia Huang, BinBin Peng, Jie Ren, FuYing Tian & Yan Wang

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  1. Li Sui
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Correspondence to Li Sui.

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Sui, L., Huang, S., Peng, B. et al. Deep brain stimulation of the amygdala alleviates fear conditioning-induced alterations in synaptic plasticity in the cortical–amygdala pathway and fear memory. J Neural Transm 121, 773–782 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-014-1183-5

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