Hippocampal–Prefrontal BDNF and Memory for Fear Extinction
Open accessAbstract
Infusing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) into the infralimbic (IL) prefrontal cortex is capable of inducing extinction. Little is known, however, about the circuits mediating BDNF effects on extinction or the extent to which extinction requires BDNF in IL. Using local pharmacological infusion of BDNF protein, or an antibody against BDNF, we found that BDNF in the IL, but not prelimbic (PL) prefrontal cortex, is both necessary and sufficient for fear extinction. Furthermore, we report that BDNF in IL can induce extinction of older fear memories (14 days) as well as recent fear memories (1 day). Using immunocytochemistry, we show that BDNF is increased in the ventral hippocampus (vHPC), but not IL or PL, following extinction training. Finally, we observed that infusing BDNF into the vHPC increased the firing rate of IL, but not PL neurons in fear conditioned rats. These findings indicate that an extinction-induced increase in BDNF within the vHPC enhances excitability in IL targets, thereby supporting extinction memories.
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BDNF depletion is involved in the cognitive deficit leading to Alzheimer's disease dementia.
“which corroborates BDNF depletion to be involved in the cognitive deficit leading to AD dementia [139].”
From Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Brain Disorders: Focus on Neuroinflammation (2019) · cites this paper as [139]
BDNF mRNA and protein levels are reduced in cognition-related structures such as the hippocampus and frontal cortex in Alzheimer's disease.
“BDNF mRNA and protein levels are also reduced in cognition-related structures such as hippocampus and frontal cortex”
From Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Brain Disorders: Focus on Neuroinflammation (2019) · cites this paper as [139]
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“In addition, injection of BDNF antibodies (anti-BDNF) in the IL prior to extinction training disrupts acquisition and retrieval of extinction memories while anti-BDNF infusions in the PL cortex do not affect extinction (Rosas-Vidal et al., 2014) (Table 9).”
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- Authors
- Rosas-Vidal, L. E., Do-Monte, F. H., Sotres-Bayon, F., & Quirk, G. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus (PR)
- Corresponding author
- Quirk, Gregory J
- Venue
- Neuropsychopharmacology
- Published
- 2014-03-14
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 2161-2169
- ISSN
- 0893-133X (ISSN-L)
- 1740-634X
- PMC
- PMC4104333
- OpenAlex
- W2162894081
- Cited by
- 184
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 7
- FWCI
- 8.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Neuropsychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01mh081975-05, MH058883, R01-MH081975)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH081975, R01MH058883, R37MH058883)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- brain-derived neurotrophic factor, fear extinction, infralimbic cortex, ventral hippocampus, prelimbic cortex, memory extinction, fear conditioning, neuronal excitability
- MeSH terms
- Action Potentials, Animals, Antibodies, Auditory Perception, Conditioning, Psychological, Extinction, Psychological, Fear, Hippocampus, Humans, Male, Memory, Neural Pathways, Neurons, Practice, Psychological, Recombinant Proteins, Time Factors, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Prefrontal Cortex, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor
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