Emotional Learning and the Amygdala

Question 1

What is the CS in fear cond?

Answer 1

tone or light

Question 2

What is the US in fear cond?

Answer 2

footshock

Question 3

What are some fear responses?

Answer 3

Freezing(defensive behavior)
Autonomic arousal
reflex potentiation
stress hormones

Question 4

What are some behavioral measures in FC?

Answer 4

Freezing, conditioned suppression of bar pressing, fear-potentiated startle

Question 5

What are some autonomic measures in FC?

Answer 5

Blood pressure and HR

Question 6

How do they measure autonomic measures in FC?

Answer 6

surgically input devices into the rat

Question 7

What two areas deal with FC?

Answer 7

Basal Lateral amygdala
Central amygdala

Question 8

What is the thalamocortical pathway?

Answer 8

The pathway from the neocortex to the amygdala, more processed information pathway

Question 9

What is the thalamoamygdalar pathway?

Answer 9

the pathway from the MGN to the amygdala, more ‘raw’ information pathway

Question 10

What happens if there is no MGN?

Answer 10

no CR is created, pathways are destroyed

Question 11

What happens if the MGN -> primary auditory is destroyed?

Answer 11

CR okay

Question 12

What happens if the MGN -> amygdala is destroyed?

Answer 12

CR okay

Question 13

Where is the site of critical plasticity?

Answer 13

The amygdala

Question 14

What is the major output region of the amygdala?

Answer 14

Central Amygdala

Question 15

How do they measure neuronal activity during fear conditioning?

Answer 15

Implanted tiny electrodes into the brain region of interest

Question 16

What neurons become more responsive to CS during the acquisition of CR?

Answer 16

Neurons in the LA

Question 17

What do pretraining lesions on the LA do?

Answer 17

prevent the aquisiition of CR

Question 18

What is a partial lesion?

Answer 18

When the researcher misses lesioning the whole LA and the animal still shows signs of deficit

Question 19

What is Muceimol?

Answer 19

It is a temporary lesion that is a GABAa antagonist

Question 20

What happens when Muceimol is injected before training?

Answer 20

prevents acquisition of CR
cannot learn so it cannot recall

Question 21

What happens when Muceimol is injected before testing?

Answer 21

Prevents expression of CR
has learned but it cannot express it

Question 22

What happens when Muceimol is injected before testing?

Answer 22

Prevents expression of CR
has learned, but it cannot express it

Question 23

What are trigger neurons?

Answer 23

Early, transient changes in the CS-related responses of dorsal LA

Question 24

What are storage neurons?

Answer 24

LAter, persistent changes in CS-related firing of ventral dorsal LA

Question 25

What happens in LA with the extinction of the CR?

Answer 25

The storage neurons remain, but the trigger neurons are extinguished.

Question 26

What does extinction in the LA tell us about extinction?

Answer 26

It is not erasing the memory but depressing the learning
overlaying new learning on the old

Question 27

What role does NMDA play in LA?

Answer 27

it is important for induction but not maintenance

Question 28

What is BDP-12?

Answer 28

it is an AMPAkine; AMPA Facilitator
drugs bind to AMPA receptor and has no effect of its own but when Glut binds it makes the ion channel open longer

Question 29

What does the infusion of BDP-12 before training?

Answer 29

It speeds up acquisition of the learning

Question 30

What does the infusion of BDP-12 into the BLA before training do?

Answer 30

Speeds up training

Question 31

What does the infusion of AMPA blocker into the BLA before training do?

Answer 31

Prevents expression of CR

Question 32

What do plasticity blocks do?

Answer 32

Prevent exocytosis of AMPA

Question 33

What happens when you block synaptic incorporation of AMPA?

Answer 33

impairs memory formation