1
|
Goode TD, Tanaka KZ, Sahay A, McHugh TJ. An Integrated Index: Engrams, Place Cells, and Hippocampal Memory. Neuron 2020; 107:805-820. [PMID: 32763146 PMCID: PMC7486247 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2020] [Revised: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The hippocampus and its extended network contribute to encoding and recall of episodic experiences. Drawing from recent anatomical, physiological, and behavioral studies, we propose that hippocampal engrams function as indices to mediate memory recall. We broaden this idea to discuss potential relationships between engrams and hippocampal place cells, as well as the molecular, cellular, physiological, and circuit determinants of engrams that permit flexible routing of information to intra- and extrahippocampal circuits for reinstatement, a feature critical to memory indexing. Incorporating indexing into frameworks of memory function opens new avenues of study and even therapies for hippocampal dysfunction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Travis D Goode
- Center for Regenerative Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114 USA; Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Kazumasa Z Tanaka
- Memory Research Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Amar Sahay
- Center for Regenerative Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114 USA; Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
| | - Thomas J McHugh
- Laboratory for Circuit and Behavioral Physiology, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Wakoshi, Saitama, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Goode TD, Acca GM, Maren S. Threat imminence dictates the role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in contextual fear. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2020; 167:107116. [PMID: 31740383 PMCID: PMC6980749 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2019.107116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2019] [Revised: 11/09/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Recent work indicates that the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is critically involved in the regulation of conditioned fear responses to unpredictable threats. Here we examined whether the involvement of the BNST in contextual fear conditioning in male rats depends on the imminence of shock after placement in the conditioning chamber. Specifically, we hypothesized that the BNST supports contextual freezing after conditioning with delayed, but not imminent, footshock (relative to placement in the context). Rats were implanted with cannulae targeting the BNST and underwent a contextual fear conditioning procedure in which a single footshock unconditioned stimulus (US) was delivered either 1 min or 9 min after the rat was placed in the context; the rats received a total of four identical conditioning sessions over two days, all with equivalent exposure to the context. Contexts associated with either imminent or delayed US onsets produced distinct patterns of freezing and shock-induced activity but freezing in each case was context-dependent. Reversible inactivation of the BNST reduced the expression of contextual freezing in the context paired with delayed (9 min), but not imminent (1 min), footshock onset. Implications of these data are discussed in the light of recent conceptualizations of BNST function, as well as for anxiety behaviors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Travis D Goode
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3474, USA
| | - Gillian M Acca
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3474, USA
| | - Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3474, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Goode TD, Ressler RL, Acca GM, Miles OW, Maren S. Bed nucleus of the stria terminalis regulates fear to unpredictable threat signals. eLife 2019; 8:46525. [PMID: 30946011 PMCID: PMC6456295 DOI: 10.7554/elife.46525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2019] [Accepted: 03/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) has been implicated in conditioned fear and anxiety, but the specific factors that engage the BNST in defensive behaviors are unclear. Here we examined whether the BNST mediates freezing to conditioned stimuli (CSs) that poorly predict the onset of aversive unconditioned stimuli (USs) in rats. Reversible inactivation of the BNST selectively reduced freezing to CSs that poorly signaled US onset (e.g., a backward CS that followed the US), but did not eliminate freezing to forward CSs even when they predicted USs of variable intensity. Additionally, backward (but not forward) CSs selectively increased Fos in the ventral BNST and in BNST-projecting neurons in the infralimbic region of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), but not in the hippocampus or amygdala. These data reveal that BNST circuits regulate fear to unpredictable threats, which may be critical to the etiology and expression of anxiety.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Travis D Goode
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, United States
| | - Reed L Ressler
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, United States
| | - Gillian M Acca
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, United States
| | - Olivia W Miles
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, United States
| | - Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, United States
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Abstract
BACKGROUND Comorbidity of anxiety disorders, stressor- and trauma-related disorders, and substance use disorders is extremely common. Moreover, therapies that reduce pathological fear and anxiety on the one hand, and drug-seeking on the other, often prove short-lived and are susceptible to relapse. Considerable advances have been made in the study of the neurobiology of both aversive and appetitive extinction, and this work reveals shared neural circuits that contribute to both the suppression and relapse of conditioned responses associated with trauma or drug use. OBJECTIVES The goal of this review is to identify common neural circuits and mechanisms underlying relapse across domains of addiction biology and aversive learning in preclinical animal models. We focus primarily on neural circuits engaged during the expression of relapse. KEY FINDINGS After extinction, brain circuits involving the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus come to regulate the expression of conditioned responses by the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and nucleus accumbens. During relapse, hippocampal projections to the prefrontal cortex inhibit the retrieval of extinction memories resulting in a loss of inhibitory control over fear- and drug-associated conditional responding. CONCLUSIONS The overlapping brain systems for both fear and drug memories may explain the co-occurrence of fear and drug-seeking behaviors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Travis D Goode
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Dr., College Station, TX, 77843-3474, USA
| | - Stephen Maren
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, 301 Old Main Dr., College Station, TX, 77843-3474, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Luyck K, Goode TD, Lee Masson H, Luyten L. Distinct Activity Patterns of the Human Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis and Amygdala during Fear Learning. Neuropsychol Rev 2018; 29:181-185. [PMID: 30229440 DOI: 10.1007/s11065-018-9383-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2018] [Accepted: 08/13/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
The amygdala and, more recently, also the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, have been widely implicated in fear and anxiety. Much of our current knowledge is derived from animal studies and suggests an intricate convergence and divergence in functions related to defensive responding. In a recent paper, Klumpers and colleagues set out to examine these functions in a human fear learning procedure using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Their main findings were a role for the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in threat anticipation, and for the amygdala in threat confrontation. Here, we provide a critical summary of this interesting study and point out some important issues that were not addressed by its authors. In particular, we first take a closer look at the striking differences between both samples that were combined for the study, and, secondly, we provide an in-depth discussion of their findings in relation to existing neurobehavioral models.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kelly Luyck
- Laboratory of Experimental Neurosurgery and Neuroanatomy, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Travis D Goode
- Institute for Neuroscience and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-3474, USA
| | - Haemy Lee Masson
- Laboratory for Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Laura Luyten
- Centre for Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102 PB 3712, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Marek R, Jin J, Goode TD, Giustino TF, Wang Q, Acca GM, Holehonnur R, Ploski JE, Fitzgerald PJ, Lynagh T, Lynch JW, Maren S, Sah P. Author Correction: Hippocampus-driven feed-forward inhibition of the prefrontal cortex mediates relapse of extinguished fear. Nat Neurosci 2018; 21:1291. [DOI: 10.1038/s41593-018-0183-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
7
|
Abstract
Surviving threats in the environment requires brain circuits for detecting (or anticipating) danger and for coordinating appropriate defensive responses (e.g., increased cardiac output, stress hormone release, and freezing behavior). The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is a critical interface between the "affective forebrain"-including the amygdala, ventral hippocampus, and medial prefrontal cortex-and the hypothalamic and brainstem areas that have been implicated in neuroendocrine, autonomic, and behavioral responses to actual or anticipated threats. However, the precise contribution of the BNST to defensive behavior is unclear, both in terms of the antecedent stimuli that mobilize BNST activity and the consequent defensive reactions. For example, it is well known that the BNST is essential for contextual fear conditioning, but dispensable for fear conditioning to discrete conditioned stimuli (CSs), at least as indexed by freezing behavior. However, recent evidence suggests that there are circumstances in which contextual freezing may persist independent of the BNST. Furthermore, the BNST is involved in the reinstatement (or relapse) of conditioned freezing to extinguished discrete CSs. As such, there are critical gaps in understanding how the BNST contributes to fundamental processes involved in Pavlovian fear conditioning. Here, we attempt to provide an integrative account of BNST function in fear conditioning. We discuss distinctions between unconditioned stress and conditioned fear and the role of BNST circuits in organizing behaviors associated with these states. We propose that the BNST mediates conditioned defensive responses-not based on the modality or duration of the antecedent threat or the duration of the behavioral response to the threat-but rather as consequence the ability of an antecedent stimulus to predict when an aversive outcome will occur (i.e., its temporal predictability). We argue that the BNST is not uniquely mobilized by sustained threats or uniquely involved in organizing sustained fear responses. In contrast, we argue that the BNST is involved in organizing fear responses to stimuli that poorly predict when danger will occur, no matter the duration, modality, or complexity of those stimuli. The concepts discussed in this review are critical to understanding the contribution of the human BNST to fear and anxiety disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Travis D Goode
- Institute for Neuroscience and the Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3474, USA
| | - Stephen Maren
- Institute for Neuroscience and the Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3474, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Goode TD, Holloway-Erickson CM, Maren S. Extinction after fear memory reactivation fails to eliminate renewal in rats. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2017; 142:41-47. [PMID: 28274824 PMCID: PMC5457330 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2017.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2017] [Revised: 03/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Retrieving fear memories just prior to extinction has been reported to effectively erase fear memories and prevent fear relapse. The current study examined whether the type of retrieval procedure influences the ability of extinction to impair fear renewal, a form of relapse in which responding to a conditional stimulus (CS) returns outside of the extinction context. Rats first underwent Pavlovian fear conditioning with an auditory CS and footshock unconditional stimulus (US); freezing behavior served as the index of conditioned fear. Twenty-four hours later, the rats underwent a retrieval-extinction procedure. Specifically, 1h prior to extinction (45 CS-alone trials; 44 for rats receiving a CS reminder), fear memory was retrieved by either a single exposure to the CS alone, the US alone, a CS paired with the US, or exposure to the conditioning context itself. Over the next few days, conditional freezing to the extinguished CS was tested in the extinction and conditioning context in that order (i.e., an ABBA design). In the extinction context, rats that received a CS+US trial before extinction exhibited higher levels of conditional freezing than animals in all other groups, which did not differ from one another. In the renewal context, all groups showed renewal, and none of the reactivation procedures reduced renewal relative to a control group that did not receive a reactivation procedure prior to extinction. These data suggest retrieval-extinction procedures may have limited efficacy in preventing fear renewal.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Travis D Goode
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3474, United States
| | | | - Stephen Maren
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3474, United States; Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3474, United States.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Dulka BN, Ford EC, Lee MA, Donnell NJ, Goode TD, Prosser R, Cooper MA. Proteolytic cleavage of proBDNF into mature BDNF in the basolateral amygdala is necessary for defeat-induced social avoidance. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016; 23:156-60. [PMID: 26980783 PMCID: PMC4793198 DOI: 10.1101/lm.040253.115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2015] [Accepted: 01/21/2016] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is essential for memory processes. The present study tested whether proteolytic cleavage of proBDNF into mature BDNF (mBDNF) within the basolateral amygdala (BLA) regulates the consolidation of defeat-related memories. We found that acute social defeat increases the expression of mBDNF, but not proBDNF, in the BLA/central amygdala. We also showed that blocking plasmin in the BLA with microinjection of α2-antiplasmin immediately following social defeat decreases social avoidance 24 h later. These data suggest the proteolytic cleavage of BDNF in the BLA is necessary for defeat-induced social avoidance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Brooke N Dulka
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - Ellen C Ford
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | - Melissa A Lee
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | | | - Travis D Goode
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Goode TD, Kim JJ, Maren S. Relapse of extinguished fear after exposure to a dangerous context is mitigated by testing in a safe context. Learn Mem 2015; 22:170-8. [PMID: 25691517 PMCID: PMC4340132 DOI: 10.1101/lm.037028.114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2014] [Accepted: 01/13/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Aversive events can trigger relapse of extinguished fear memories, presenting a major challenge to the long-term efficacy of therapeutic interventions. Here, we examined factors regulating the relapse of extinguished fear after exposure of rats to a dangerous context. Rats received unsignaled shock in a distinct context ("dangerous" context) 24 h prior to auditory fear conditioning in another context. Fear to the auditory conditioned stimulus (CS) was subsequently extinguished either in the conditioning context ("ambiguous" context) or in a third novel context ("safe" context). Exposure to the dangerous context 30 min before a CS retention test caused relapse to the CS in the ambiguous and safe test contexts relative to nonextinguished controls. When rats were tested 24 h later (with or without short-term testing), rats tested in the ambiguous context continued to exhibit relapse, whereas rats tested in the safe context did not. Additionally, exposure of rats to the conditioning context--in place of the unsignaled shock context--did not result in relapse of fear to the CS in the safe testing context. Our work highlights the vulnerabilities of extinction recall to interference, and demonstrates the importance of context associations in the relapse of fear after extinction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Travis D Goode
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3473, USA
| | - Janice J Kim
- Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3473, USA
| | - Stephen Maren
- Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3473, USA Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3473, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Abstract
Whereas fear memories are rapidly acquired and enduring over time, extinction memories are slow to form and are susceptible to disruption. Consequently, behavioral therapies that involve extinction learning (e.g., exposure therapy) often produce only temporary suppression of fear and anxiety. This review focuses on the factors that are known to influence the relapse of extinguished fear. Several phenomena associated with the return of fear after extinction are discussed, including renewal, spontaneous recovery, reacquisition, and reinstatement. Additionally, this review describes recent work, which has focused on the role of psychological stress in the relapse of extinguished fear. Recent developments in behavioral and pharmacological research are examined in light of treatment of pathological fear in humans.
Collapse
|