Cannabinoid CB1 receptor mediates fear extinction via habituation-like processes.

K. Kamprath, G. Marsicano, J. Tang, K. Monory, T. Bisogno, V. D. Marzo, B. Lutz, C. T. Wotjak
Journal of Neuroscience. 2006-06-21; 26(25): 6677-6686
DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0153-06.2006

PubMed
Lire sur PubMed



1. J Neurosci. 2006 Jun 21;26(25):6677-86.

Cannabinoid CB1 receptor mediates fear extinction via habituation-like processes.

Kamprath K(1), Marsicano G, Tang J, Monory K, Bisogno T, Di Marzo V, Lutz B,
Wotjak CT.

Author information:
(1)Neuronal Plasticity/Mouse Behavior Group, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry,
D-80804 Munich, Germany.

The interplay between fear expression and fear extinction provides an important
prerequisite for adequate coping with aversive encounters. Current models propose
that extinction of conditioned fear is mediated by associative safety learning.
Here, we demonstrate that the cannabinoid CB1 receptor, which is crucially
involved in fear extinction, is dispensable for associative safety learning. In
fact, our results indicate that CB1 mediates fear extinction primarily via
habituation-like processes. CB1 null-mutant mice were severely impaired not only
in extinction of the fear response to a tone after fear conditioning but also in
habituation of the fear response to a tone after sensitization with an
inescapable footshock. Surprisingly, long-term habituation was generally affected
even in situations with proper short-term adaptation, suggesting the existence of
two separated CB1-dependent effector systems for short- and long-term fear
adaptation. Our findings underscore the importance of habituation as a
determinant of fear extinction in mice and characterize the cannabinoid CB1
receptor as an essential molecular correlate of this process.

DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0153-06.2006
PMID: 16793875 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Auteurs Bordeaux Neurocampus