Basolateral amygdala astrocytes are engaged by the acquisition and expression of a contextual fear memory

Abstract

Astrocytes are key cellular regulators within the brain. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) is implicated in fear memory processing, yet most research has entirely focused on neuronal mechanisms, despite a significant body of work implicating astrocytes in learning and memory. In the present study, we used in vivo fiber photometry to record from amygdalar astrocytes across fear learning, recall, and three separate periods of extinction. We found that BLA astrocytes robustly responded to foot-shocks during acquisition, that their activity remained remarkably elevated across days in comparison to unshocked control animals, and that their increased activity persisted throughout extinction. Further, we found that astrocytes responded to the initiation and termination of freezing bouts during contextual recall, and this behavior-locked pattern of activity did not persist throughout the extinction sessions. Our work presents a real-time role for amygdalar astrocytes in fear processing and provides new insight into the emerging role of these cells in cognition and behavior.

Spatial transcriptomics reveal neuron–astrocyte synergy in long-term memory

“…3b). A recent study using in vivo fibre photometry showed that astrocytes in the BLA are activated during acquisition and expression of contextual fear memory 44 , consistent with our observation that the astrocyte cell types are remodelled by fear memory consolidation (Fig. 3a and Extended Data Fig.…”