Suvrathan, Aparna ; Bennur, Sharath ; Ghosh, Supriya ; Tomar, Anupratap ; Anilkumar, Shobha ; Chattarji, Sumantra (2014) Stress enhances fear by forming new synapses with greater capacity for long-term potentiation in the amygdala Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 369 (1633). p. 20130151. ISSN 0962-8436
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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0151
Related URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0151
Abstract
Prolonged and severe stress leads to cognitive deficits, but facilitates emotional behaviour. Little is known about the synaptic basis for this contrast. Here, we report that in rats subjected to chronic immobilization stress, long-term potentiation (LTP) and NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-mediated synaptic responses are enhanced in principal neurons of the lateral amygdala, a brain area involved in fear memory formation. This is accompanied by electrophysiological and morphological changes consistent with the formation of ‘silent synapses’, containing only NMDARs. In parallel, chronic stress also reduces synaptic inhibition. Together, these synaptic changes would enable amygdalar neurons to undergo further experience-dependent modifications, leading to stronger fear memories. Consistent with this prediction, stressed animals exhibit enhanced conditioned fear. Hence, stress may leave its mark in the amygdala by generating new synapses with greater capacity for plasticity, thereby creating an ideal neuronal substrate for affective disorders. These findings also highlight the unique features of stress-induced plasticity in the amygdala that are strikingly different from the stress-induced impairment of structure and function in the hippocampus.
Item Type: | Article |
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Source: | Copyright of this article belongs to The Royal Society |
ID Code: | 130548 |
Deposited On: | 28 Nov 2022 04:45 |
Last Modified: | 28 Nov 2022 04:45 |
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