The Neurobiology of Fear Generalization

The generalization of fear memories is an adaptive neurobiological process that promotes survival in complex and dynamic environments. When confronted with a potential threat, an animal must select an appropriate defensive response based on previous experiences that are not identical, weighing cues...

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Published inFrontiers in behavioral neuroscience Vol. 12; p. 329
Main Authors Asok, Arun, Kandel, Eric R, Rayman, Joseph B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Research Foundation 15.01.2019
Frontiers Media S.A
Subjects
Animal models
Animals
Anxiety
Behavior
Defensive behavior
Drug development
Fear
fear generalization
fear memory
Hippocampus
Memory
Nervous system
neural circuits
Neurobiology
Neuroscience
Neurosciences
Post traumatic stress disorder
Science
Sex differences
Thalamus
Threats
New York
United States > US
animal models
fear generalization
fear memory
sex differences
neural circuits
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Summary:The generalization of fear memories is an adaptive neurobiological process that promotes survival in complex and dynamic environments. When confronted with a potential threat, an animal must select an appropriate defensive response based on previous experiences that are not identical, weighing cues and contextual information that may predict safety or danger. Like other aspects of fear memory, generalization is mediated by the coordinated actions of prefrontal, hippocampal, amygdalar, and thalamic brain areas. In this review article, we describe the current understanding of the behavioral, neural, genetic, and biochemical mechanisms involved in the generalization of fear. Fear generalization is a hallmark of many anxiety and stress-related disorders, and its emergence, severity, and manifestation are sex-dependent. Therefore, to improve the dialog between human and animal studies as well as to accelerate the development of effective therapeutics, we emphasize the need to examine both sex differences and remote timescales in rodent models.
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Reviewed by: Aline Desmedt, Université de Bordeaux, France; Phillip R. Zoladz, Ohio Northern University, United States
Edited by: Jacqueline Jeannette Blundell, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
ISSN:1662-5153
1662-5153
DOI:10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00329