Oral Conditioned Cues Can Enhance or Inhibit Ethanol (EtOH)-Seeking and EtOH-Relapse Drinking by Alcohol-Preferring (P) Rats

Information about dangers can spread effectively by observation of others’ threat responses. Yet, it is unclear if such observational threat information interacts with associative memories that are shaped by the individual’s direct, firsthand experiences. Here, we show in humans and rats that the mere observation of a conspecific’s threat reactions reinstates previously learned and extinguished threat responses in the observer. In two experiments, human participants displayed elevated physiological responses to threat-conditioned cues after observational reinstatement in a context-specific manner. The elevation of physiological responses (arousal) was further specific to the context that was observed as dangerous. An analogous experiment in rats provided converging results by demonstrating reinstatement of defensive behavior after observing another rat’s threat reactions. Taken together, our findings provide cross-species evidence that observation of others’ threat reactions can recover associations previously shaped by direct, firsthand aversive experiences. Our study offers a perspective on how retrieval of threat memories draws from associative mechanisms that might underlie both observations of others’ and firsthand experiences.

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A brainstem-central amygdala circuit underlies defensive responses to learned threats

10.1101/519249 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Yiran Gu ◽

Elena M. Vazey ◽

Gary Aston-Jones ◽

Longnian Lin ◽

Joseph E. LeDoux ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Locus Coeruleus ◽

Central Nucleus ◽

Aversive Learning ◽

Defensive Responses ◽

Behavioral Expression ◽

Bidirectional Modulation ◽

Conditioned Responses ◽

Lateral Nucleus ◽

Conditioned Cues

AbstractNorepinephrine (NE) plays a central role in the acquisition of aversive learning via actions in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA)1,2. However, the function of NE in expression of aversively-conditioned responses has not been established. Given the role of the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) in the expression of such behaviors3, and the presence of NE projections in this brain nucleus, we assessed the effects of NE activity in the CeA on behavioral expression using receptor-specific pharmacology and cell-and projection-specific chemogenetic manipulations. We found that inhibition and activation of locus coeruleus (LC) neurons decreases and increases freezing to aversively conditioned cues, respectively. We then show that locally inhibiting or activating LC terminals in CeA is sufficient to achieve this bidirectional modulation of defensive reactions. These findings support the hypothesis that LC projections to CeA are required for the expression of defensive responses elicited by conditioned threats.

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Music-assisted systematic desensitization for the reduction of craving in response to drug-conditioned cues: A pilot study

The Arts in Psychotherapy ◽

10.1016/j.aip.2016.08.003 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 36-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Vasileios Stamou ◽

Theano Chatzoudi ◽

Lelouda Stamou ◽

Lucia Romo ◽

Pierluigi Graziani

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Systematic Desensitization ◽

Conditioned Cues

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The use of conditioned cues associated with air hunger as reinforcers: A case report

Journal of Behavioral Medicine ◽

10.1007/bf00844902 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 103-109

Author(s):

Logan Wright

Keyword(s):

Case Report ◽

Conditioned Cues

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Conditioned Reinstatement in Rats: Effects of Exposure Distribution and Type of Cue

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1972.31.1.79 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 79-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Heywood Greenfield ◽

David C. Riccio

Keyword(s):

Retention Test ◽

Control Group ◽

Reliable Difference ◽

Retention Loss ◽

Immature Rats ◽

Exposure Distribution ◽

Conditioned Cues

2 experiments examined the influence of interpolated exposure to conditioned cues upon retention in immature rats. In Exp. 1, distributed exposures or a massed exposure shortly before the retention test significantly improved memory relative to an untreated retention control group. In Exp. 2, brief exposures to distinctive apparatus stimuli previously paired with shock were effective in preventing retention loss while exposures to the compartment never associated with shock did not result in a reliable difference from the retention controls.

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