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Differential Control of Learning and Anxiety along the Dorsoventral Axis of the Dentate Gyrus

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Kheirbek, Mazen A., Drew, Liam J., Burghardt, Nesha S., Costantini, Daniel O., Tannenholz, Lindsay, Ahmari, Susanne E., Zeng, Hongkui, Fenton, André A. +1 more·2013·Neuron

Abstract

The dentate gyrus (DG), in addition to its role in learning and memory, is increasingly implicated in the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders. Here, we show that, dependent on their position along the dorso-ventral axis of the hippocampus, DG granule cells (GCs) control specific features of anxiety and contextual learning. Using optogenetic techniques to either elevate or decrease GC activity, we demonstrate that GCs in the dorsal DG control exploratory drive and encoding, not retrieval, of contextual fear memories. In contrast, elevating the activity of GCs in the ventral DG has no effect on contextual learning but powerfully suppresses innate anxiety. These results suggest that strategies aimed at modulating the excitability of the ventral DG may be beneficial for the treatment of anxiety disorders.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.12.038

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  • The dorsal hippocampus encodes context more specifically, while the ventral hippocampus includes affective information as well.

    “The hippocampus itself appears to have a dorsal-ventral functional gradient, with the dorsal hippocampus encoding context more specifically, while the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) includes affective information as well [37].”

    From Prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and threat processing: implications for PTSD (2022) · cites this paper as [37]

    The Discussion reports that dorsal dentate gyrus granule cells are required for rapid contextual encoding, while ventral dentate gyrus activity influences anxiety-like behavior. It does not establish that the ventral hippocampus encodes context together with affective information; the Discussion says whether contextual information is represented in the ventral dentate gyrus remains unknown. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The hippocampus encodes context-specific information of a threat trace.

    “The canonical role of the hippocampus in threat circuitry is to encode context-specific information of a threat trace, as it is crucial for an organism to be able to distinguish threats as belonging to a particular context.”
  • The dorsal hippocampus supports spatial navigation learning and memory, and the ventral hippocampus is important for anxiety and stress regulation.

    “Studies have shown that different parts of the hippocampus serve these different functions, with the dorsal hippocampus supporting spatial navigation learning and memory, and the ventral hippocampus as important for anxiety and stress regulation (Fanselow and Dong, 2010; Kheirbek et al., 2013).”

    From Adult neurogenesis, glia, and the extracellular matrix (2019) · cites this paper as Kheirbek et al., 2013

  • Direct photostimulation of ventral dentate gyrus granule cells suppresses anxiety-like behaviors in the EPM and OFT.

    “however, direct photostimulation of ventral dentate gyrus granule cells has been in fact found to suppress anxiety-like behaviors in the EPM and OFT91.”

    From Resolving the neural circuits of anxiety (2015) · cites this paper as [91]

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Authors
Kheirbek, M. A., Drew, L. J., Burghardt, N. S., Costantini, D. O., Tannenholz, L., Ahmari, S. E., Zeng, H., Fenton, A. A., & Hen, R.
Affiliations
  • New York State Psychiatric Institute (US)
  • Allen Institute for Brain Science (US)
  • SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University (US)
Corresponding author
Hen, René
Venue
Neuron
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2013-03
Volume
77
Issue
5
Pages
955-968
ISSN
0896-6273 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2069281265
Cited by
713
References
67
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 62 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 67 · 2019: 74 · 2018: 65 · 2017: 50 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 43 · 2014: 51 · 2013: 19
FWCI
28.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuron (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (R37MH068542, K01MH099371, T32MH015174, K08MH087718)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
Keywords
dentate gyrus, granule cells, dorsal-ventral axis, anxiety, contextual fear memory, contextual learning, memory encoding, memory retrieval, hippocampus, anxiety disorders, optogenetics
MeSH terms
Animals, Anxiety, Avoidance Learning, Behavior, Animal, Conditioning, Psychological, Fear, Immunohistochemistry, Learning, Male, Mental Recall, Stereotaxic Techniques, Dentate Gyrus, Mice, Optical Fibers, Opsins, Electrophysiological Phenomena, In Vitro Techniques

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