Dopamine gates LTP induction in lateral amygdala by suppressing feedforward inhibition.
Fear conditioning involves the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) of excitatory synaptic transmission in the lateral amygdala, a brain structure which is tightly controlled by GABAergic inhibition. Here we show that dopamine gates the induction of LTP in the mouse lateral amygdala by suppressing feedforward inhibition from local interneurons. Our findings provide a cellular mechanism for the dopaminergic modulation of fear conditioning and indicate that suppression of feedforward inhibition represents a key mechanism for the induction of associative synaptic plasticity in the lateral amygdala.
Department of Pharmacology/Neurobiology, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland.
Stephanie
S
Bissière
Yann
Y
Humeau
Andreas
A
Lüthi
D000679:Amygdala / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018492:Dopamine Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005239:Fear / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018756:GABA Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D007395:Interneurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism
D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D018492:Dopamine Antagonists; D018756:GABA Antagonists; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D004298:Dopamine