Fear is essential to an individual's survival. Abnormal fear will make people or animals more vulnerable to danger, and even lead to a series of neuropsychiatric diseases. Previous studies have suggested that functional abnormalities of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) may lead to fear-related neuropsychiatric diseases, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Our preliminary data has first shown that the projection from the central amygdala (CeA) to the ventral tegmental area could regulate fear. However, the specific cell types and molecular mechanisms of fear regulation remain elusive. We will study the role and mechanism of the CeA-VTA circuit in fear emotion from multiple hierarchical systems including cell types, neural circuits, and molecular mechanisms by combining electrophysiology, in vivo optical fiber recording, animal behavior, and molecular genetics. The results are expected to further reveal the neural mechanism of fear and provide new ideas and potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of fear and related diseases.