TY - JOUR
T1 - Normal conditioned inhibition and extinction of freezing and fear- potentiated startle following electrolytic lesions of medial prefrontal cortex in rats
AU - Gewirtz, Jonathan C.
AU - Falls, William A.
AU - Davis, Michael
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - The authors investigated the role of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in the inhibition of conditioned fear in rats using both Pavlovian extinction and conditioned inhibition paradigms. In Experiment 1, lesions of ventral mPFC did not interfere with conditioned inhibition of the fear-potentiated startle response. In Experiment 2, lesions made after acquisition of fear conditioning did not retard extinction of fear to a visual conditioned stimulus (CS) and did not impair 'reinstatement' of fear after unsignaled presentations of the unconditioned stimulus. In Experiment 3, lesions made before fear conditioning did not retard extinction of fear-potentiated startle or freezing to an auditory CS. In both Experiments 2 and 3, extinction of fear to contextual cues was also unaffected by the lesions. These results indicate that ventral mPFC is not essential for the inhibition of fear under a variety of circumstances.
AB - The authors investigated the role of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in the inhibition of conditioned fear in rats using both Pavlovian extinction and conditioned inhibition paradigms. In Experiment 1, lesions of ventral mPFC did not interfere with conditioned inhibition of the fear-potentiated startle response. In Experiment 2, lesions made after acquisition of fear conditioning did not retard extinction of fear to a visual conditioned stimulus (CS) and did not impair 'reinstatement' of fear after unsignaled presentations of the unconditioned stimulus. In Experiment 3, lesions made before fear conditioning did not retard extinction of fear-potentiated startle or freezing to an auditory CS. In both Experiments 2 and 3, extinction of fear to contextual cues was also unaffected by the lesions. These results indicate that ventral mPFC is not essential for the inhibition of fear under a variety of circumstances.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030737758&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0030737758&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/0735-7044.111.4.712
DO - 10.1037/0735-7044.111.4.712
M3 - Article
C2 - 9267649
AN - SCOPUS:0030737758
SN - 0735-7044
VL - 111
SP - 712
EP - 726
JO - Behavioral Neuroscience
JF - Behavioral Neuroscience
IS - 4
ER -