Heterogeneous plasticity of amygdala interneurons in associative learning and extinction

Natalia Favila, Jessica Capece Marsico, Catarina M. Pacheco, Selin Kenet, Benjamin Escribano, Yael Bitterman, Jan Gründemann, Andreas Lüthi and Sabine Krabbe ()
Additional contact information
Natalia Favila: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)
Jessica Capece Marsico: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)
Catarina M. Pacheco: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)
Selin Kenet: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)
Benjamin Escribano: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)
Yael Bitterman: Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
Jan Gründemann: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)
Andreas Lüthi: Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research
Sabine Krabbe: German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Abstract Neural circuits undergo experience-dependent plasticity to form long-lasting memories, but how inhibitory interneurons contribute to this process remains poorly understood. Using miniature microscope calcium imaging, we monitored the activity of large amygdala interneuron populations in freely moving mice during fear learning and extinction. Here we show that interneurons exhibit complex and heterogeneous plasticity at both single-cell and ensemble levels across memory acquisition, expression, and extinction. Analysis of molecular interneuron subpopulations revealed that disinhibitory vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-expressing cells are predominantly activated by salient external stimuli, whereas the activity of projection neuron targeting somatostatin (SST) interneurons additionally aligns with internal behavioural states. Although responses within each interneuron subtype are non-uniform, molecular identity biases their functional role, producing weighted circuit outputs that can flexibly regulate excitatory projection neuron activity and plasticity. These findings demonstrate that inhibitory interneurons actively shape the encoding and stability of emotional memories, underscoring their importance in adaptive learning.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-66122-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-66122-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-66122-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().