"Northwestern Medicine investigators have uncovered new insights into the synaptic connections of subgroups of interneurons, findings that may improve the understanding of fear responses and could inform new targeted therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a recent study published in Cell Reports. Sachin Patel, MD, PhD, the chair and the Lizzie Gilman Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, was senior author of the study."
"GABAergic interneurons (INs) are a specialized group of inhibitory neurons in the amygdala that support associative learning, a survival mechanism in which behavioral responses change to different environmental factors and sensory cues. GABAergic INs also help regulate excitatory neurons throughout the brain and central nervous system. There are thought to be three major types of GABAergic INs: somatostatin INs, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) INs and parvalbumin (PV) INs."
Investigators uncovered new insights into synaptic connections among subgroups of GABAergic interneurons in the amygdala and their roles in fear responses and potential PTSD therapies. GABAergic interneurons are inhibitory neurons that support associative learning and regulate excitatory neurons across the brain and central nervous system. Three major GABAergic interneuron types—somatostatin, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), and parvalbumin (PV)—express unique genetic signatures and perform distinct functions in cortex and amygdala circuitry related to fear conditioning. The interneuron subgroups adapt during fear induction and extinction, processes relevant to exposure therapy and weakening conditioned fear responses over repeated safe exposures. Transgenic mouse models and electrophysiological analyses were used to characterize these synaptic adaptations.
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