title: Sleep sharpens sensory stimulus coding in human visual cortex after fear conditioning.
abstract: Efficient perceptual identification of emotionally-relevant stimuli requires optimized neural coding. Because sleep contributes to neural plasticity mechanisms, we asked whether the perceptual representation of emotionally-relevant stimuli within sensory cortices is modified after a period of sleep. We show combined effects of sleep and aversive conditioning on subsequent discrimination of face identity information, with parallel plasticity in the amygdala and visual cortex. After one night of sleep (but neither immediately nor after an equal waking interval), a fear-conditioned face was better detected when morphed with another identity. This behavioral change was accompanied by increased selectivity of the amygdala and face-responsive fusiform regions. Overnight neural changes can thus sharpen the representation of threat-related stimuli in cortical sensory areas, in order to improve detection in impoverished or ambiguous situations. These findings reveal an important role of sleep in shaping cortical selectivity to emotionally-relevant cues and thus promoting adaptive responses to new dangers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sterpenich
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Camille
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piguet
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, University of Namur, Belgium.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Desseilles
authors.affiliation: Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ceravolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Neurology Service, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gschwind
authors.affiliation: Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Institute of Bioengineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Dimitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Van De Ville
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Patrik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vuilleumier
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Geneva Neuroscience Center, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: Sophie.Schwartz@unige.ch.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schwartz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005145:Face; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Amygdala; Conditioning; Emotion; Functional MRI; Fusiform cortex; Memory consolidation; Perceptual learning; Sleep