• Dimitrios Psyrakis, Julia Jasiewicz, Michael Wehrmeister, Kathrin Bonni, Beat Lutz, and Sodikdjon A Kodirov.
• Institute of Physiological Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry, University Medical Center Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
• Neuroscience. 2024 Sep 25; 556: 526552-65.

AbstractThe convergence of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli (CS and US) into the lateral amygdala (LA) serves as a substrate for an adequate fear response in vivo. This well-known Pavlovian paradigm modulates the synaptic plasticity of neurons, as can be proved by the long-term potentiation (LTP) phenomenon in vitro. Although there is an increasing body of evidence for the existence of LTP in the amygdala, only a few studies were able to show a reliable long-term depression (LTD) of excitation in this structure. We have used coronal brain slices and conducted patch-clamp recordings in pyramidal neurons of the lateral amygdala (LA). After obtaining a stable baseline excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) response at a holding potential of -70 mV, we employed a paired-pulse paradigm at 1 Hz at the same membrane potential and could observe a reliable LTD. The different durations of stimulation (ranging between 1.5-24 min) were tested first in the same neuron, but the intensity was kept constant. The latter paradigm resulted in a step-wise LTD with a gradually increasing magnitude under these conditions.Copyright © 2024 International Brain Research Organization (IBRO). All rights reserved.

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