Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Fear conditioning and LTP in the lateral amygdala are sensitive to the same stimulus contingencies

Nature Neuroscience volume 4, pages 687–688 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Pavlovian fear conditioning depends not so much on the contiguity (temporal overlap) of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) as on contingency, the ability of the CS to predict US occurrence1. Associative long-term potentiation (LTP)2, a cellular model of associative learning3,4, occurs in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA)5, the putative locus of plasticity in fear conditioning6. Here we show that associative LTP in LA, like fear conditioning, is sensitive to stimulus contingency.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Contingency effects on fear conditioning and LTP.
Figure 2: UDs presented immediately before or after pairing impair LTP induction.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Rescorla, R. A. J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol. 66, 1–5 (1968).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bliss, T. V. & Lomo, T. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 232, 331–356 (1973).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Levy, W. B. & Steward, O. Brain Res. 175, 233–245 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kelso, S. R., Ganong, A. H. & Brown, T. H. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83, 5326–5330 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Weisskopf, M. G., Bauer, E. P. & LeDoux, J. E. J. Neurosci. 19, 10512–10519 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. LeDoux, J. E. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 23, 155–184 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Markram, H., Lubke, J., Frotscher, M. & Sakmann, B. Science 275, 213–215 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Magee, J. C. & Johnston, D. Science 275, 209–213 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Guo-qiang, B. & Poo, M.-M. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 24, 139–166 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Rogan, M. T., Staubli, U. V. & LeDoux, J. E. Nature 390, 604–607 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Huang, Y. Y., Martin, K. C. & Kandel, E. R. J. Neurosci. 20, 6317–6325 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Huang, Y. Y., Colina, A., Selig, D. K. & Malenka, R. C. Science 255, 730–733 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Bear, M. F. & Malenka, R. C. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 4, 389–399 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Nakamura, T., Barbara, J. G., Nakamura, K. & Ross, W. N. Neuron 24, 727–737 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Martin, S. J., Grimwood, P. D. & Morris, R. G. M. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 23, 649–711 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by the NIMH grants RO1 MH 46516, KO2 MH00956, R37 MH 39774 and MH 11902-01A1 to J.E.L, and by a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to N.Y.U.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. W.M. Keck Foundation Laboratory of Neurobiology, Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, 10003, New York, USA

    Elizabeth P. Bauer, Joseph E. LeDoux & Karim Nader

Authors
  1. Elizabeth P. Bauer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joseph E. LeDoux
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Karim Nader
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth P. Bauer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bauer, E., LeDoux, J. & Nader, K. Fear conditioning and LTP in the lateral amygdala are sensitive to the same stimulus contingencies. Nat Neurosci 4, 687–688 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/89465

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/89465

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing