Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Author: Santiago Abel Merlo | Email: santiabelmerlo@gmail.com
Santiago Abel Merlo1°2°3°, Emiliano Merlo4°,María Eugenia Pedreira1°, Mariano Belluscio2°3°
1° Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
2° Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET, Instituto de Fisiología y Biofísica Bernardo Houssay, Grupo de Neurociencia de Sistemas, Laboratorio Bases Neuronales del Comportamiento, Buenos Aires, Argentina
3° Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Ciencias Fisiológicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
4° School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, United Kingdom
The basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA), along with the prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic (IL) subdivisions of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), have been implicated in the processing of fear-related responses and the encoding of aversive memories. Distinct oscillatory rhythms are known to be selectively modulated during fear memory retrieval and extinction. While the BLA, PL, and IL differentially contribute to various stages of fear memory, much remains unknown about how oscillatory activity in these regions regulate conditioned fear responses, particularly through inter-regional oscillatory interactions. Here, we recorded local field potentials (LFPs) from the BLA, PL, and IL of rats during fear memory retrieval and extinction. We analyzed oscillatory rhythms within the BLA-mPFC network. Our results demonstrate that these regions are involved in encoding negative valence, as indicated by distinct oscillatory activity patterns, synchronization, and inter-regional interactions. Moreover, this encoding was disrupted during the extinction of conditioned fear. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the brain’s oscillatory mechanisms underlying the expression and inhibition of aversive memories, underscoring the relevance of BLA-mPFC interplay in this process.