Control of fear extinction by hypothalamic melanin-concentrating hormone–expressing neurons

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 117; no. 36; pp. 22514 - 22521
• Main Authors: Concetti, Cristina, Bracey, Edward F., Peleg-Raibstein, Daria, Burdakov, Denis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington National Academy of Sciences 08.09.2020
• Subjects: Anxiety disorders; Biological Sciences; Brain; Disruption; Extinction; Extinction behavior; Fear; Fear conditioning; Hypothalamus; Learning; Melanin; Melanin-concentrating hormone; Neurons; Safety; Substrate inhibition

Learning to fear danger is essential for survival. However, overactive, relapsing fear behavior in the absence of danger is a hallmark of disabling anxiety disorders that affect millions of people. Its suppression is thus of great interest, but the necessary brain components remain incompletely iden...