Medial prefrontal cortex neuronal circuits in fear behavior

J. Courtin, T.C.M. Bienvenu, E.Ö. Einarsson, C. Herry
Neuroscience. 2013-06-01; 240: 219-242
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.03.001

https://www.bordeaux-neurocampus.fr/6506

1. Neuroscience. 2013 Jun 14;240:219-42. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2013.03.001.
Epub 2013 Mar 14.

Medial prefrontal cortex neuronal circuits in fear behavior.

Courtin J(1), Bienvenu TC, Einarsson EÖ, Herry C.

Author information:
(1)INSERM U862, Neurocenter Magendie, 33077 Bordeaux, France.

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has emerged as a key structure involved in
the modulation of fear behavior over the past few decades. Anatomical,
functional and electrophysiological studies have begun to shed light on the
precise mechanisms by which different prefrontal regions regulate the expression
and inhibition of fear behavior. These studies have established a canonical view
of mPFC functions during fear behavior with dorsal regions selectively involved
in the expression of fear behavior and ventral regions linked to the inhibition
of fear behavior. Although numerous reports support this view, recent data have
refined this model and suggested that dorsal prefrontal regions might also play
an important role in the encoding of fear behavior itself. The recent
development of sophisticated approaches such as large scale neuronal recordings,
simultaneous multisite recordings of spiking activity and local field potentials
(LFPs) along with optogenetic approaches will facilitate the testing of these
new hypotheses in the near future. Here we provide an extensive review of the
literature on the role of mPFC in fear behavior and propose further directions
to dissect the contribution of specific prefrontal neuronal elements and
circuits in the regulation of fear behavior.