ePoster

Functional architecture of dopamine neurons driving fear extinction learning

Ximena Icaria Salinas Hernandez, Daphne Zafiri, Torfi Sigurdsson, Sevil Duvarci
FENS Forum 2024(2024)
Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center, Vienna, Austria

Conference

FENS Forum 2024

Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center, Vienna, Austria

Resources

Authors & Affiliations

Ximena Icaria Salinas Hernandez, Daphne Zafiri, Torfi Sigurdsson, Sevil Duvarci

Abstract

The ability to extinguish fear responses to stimuli that no longer predict danger is critical for adaptive behavior and increases the likelihood of survival. During fear extinction, dopamine (DA) neurons signal the absence of the expected aversive outcome, and this extinction prediction error (EPE) signal is crucial for initiating and driving extinction learning. However, the neural circuits underlying the EPE signal have remained elusive. Here, we investigate the input-output circuitry of EPE-encoding DAneurons in male mice. By employing projection-specific fiber photometry and optogenetics, we demonstrate that these neurons project to a restricted subregion of the nucleus accumbens. Comprehensive anatomical analyses, as well as projection-specific chemogenetic manipulations combined with recordings of DA biosensors, further uncover the dorsal raphe as one key input structure critical for generating the EPE signal. Together, our results reveal for the first time the functional architecture of EPE-encoding DA neurons crucial for driving fear extinction learning.

Unique ID: fens-24/functional-architecture-dopamine-neurons-ce89ef7d