Dopamine signals when a fear can be forgotten
a year ago
- #PTSD
- #fear-extinction
- #neuroscience
- The brain has an 'all-clear' signal involving dopamine release that helps extinguish fear.
- MIT study in mice identifies a specific brain circuit (VTA to amygdala) responsible for fear extinction.
- Fear extinction is a positive learning process linked to reward pathways, not just suppression of fear.
- Dopamine activates Ppp1r1b neurons in the amygdala, promoting fear extinction, while Rspo2 neurons encode fear.
- Optogenetic manipulation of VTA dopaminergic inputs confirmed dopamine's causal role in fear extinction.
- The findings suggest potential therapeutic targets for anxiety and PTSD, such as modulating dopamine pathways.