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The Journal of Neuroscience, August 5, 2009, 29(31):9700-9703; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5928-08.2009

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Brief Communications
Cornering the Fear Engram: Long-Term Synaptic Changes in the Lateral Nucleus of the Amygdala after Fear Conditioning

Jeong-Tae Kwon and June-Seek Choi

Department of Psychology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea

Correspondence should be addressed to June-Seek Choi, Department of Psychology, Korea University, 5-1 Anam, Seongbuk, Seoul 136-701, Korea. Email: j-schoi{at}korea.ac.kr

Use-dependent synaptic modifications in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) have been suggested to be the cellular analog of memory trace after pavlovian fear conditioning. However, whether neurophysiological changes in the LA are produced as a direct consequence of associative learning awaits additional proof. Using microstimulation of the medial geniculate nucleus of the thalamus as the conditioned stimulus (CS), we demonstrated that contingent pairings of the brain-stimulation CS and a footshock unconditioned stimulus lead to enhanced synaptic efficacy in the thalamic input to the LA, supporting the hypothesis that localized synaptic alterations underlie fear memory formation.

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Received Dec. 6, 2008; revised May 12, 2009; accepted June 24, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to June-Seek Choi, Department of Psychology, Korea University, 5-1 Anam, Seongbuk, Seoul 136-701, Korea. Email: j-schoi{at}korea.ac.kr

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