title: Mouse models of fear-related disorders: Cell-type-specific manipulations in amygdala.
abstract: Fear conditioning is a model system used to study threat responses, fear memory and their dysregulation in a variety of organisms. Newly developed tools such as optogenetics, Cre recombinase and DREADD technologies have allowed researchers to manipulate anatomically or molecularly defined cell subtypes with a high degree of temporal control and determine the effect of this manipulation on behavior. These targeted molecular techniques have opened up a new appreciation for the critical contributions different subpopulations of cells make to fear behavior and potentially to treatment of fear and anxiety disorders. Here we review progress to date across a variety of techniques to understand fear-related behavior through the manipulation of different cell subtypes within the amygdala.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA; Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Gafford
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA; Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address: kressle@emory.edu.
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Ressler
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005239:Fear; D008568:Memory; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: amygdala; cell subtype manipulation; fear conditioning; fear extinction