Intercalated cells of the amygdala

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The?intercalated?(ITC)?cells of the amygdala?are a group of?GABAergic?neurons?situated between the basolateral and central nuclei of the?amygdala?that are important for inhibitory control over the amygdala.[1]

Contents

·?1Function

·?2Structure

·?3Connectivity

·?4See also

·?5References

Function[edit]

ITC cells are thought to play a role as the 'off switch' for the amygdala, inhibiting the amygdala's central nucleus output neurons and its basolateral nucleus neurons.[1]?Some researchers speculate that ITC cells, via their extensive local inhibition within the amygdala, could serve as a substrate for expression and storage of?extinction?memory.[1]

Structure[edit]

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Connectivity[edit]

ITC cells receive strong projections from the?infralimbic cortex?(IL mPFC)?in both primates and rodents,[1]?which may explain cortical control over emotional regulation processes such as?extinction.

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Extinction?is a behavioral phenomenon observed in both?operantly conditioned?and?classically conditioned?behavior, which manifests itself by fading of non-reinforced conditioned response over time. When operant behavior that has been previously reinforced no longer produces reinforcing consequences the behavior gradually stops occurring.[1]?In classical conditioning, when a conditioned stimulus is presented alone, so that it no longer predicts the coming of the unconditioned stimulus, conditioned responding gradually stops.?For example, after?Pavlov's?dog was conditioned to salivate at the sound of a metronome, it eventually stopped salivating to the metronome after the metronome had been sounded repeatedly but no food came.

（這個例子很好地解釋了Extinction的意思，就是需要先有conditioned to salivate at the sound of a metronome，然后再發(fā)生stopped salivating to the metronome after the metronome had been sounded repeatedly but no food came，后面的過程就叫Extinction。）

?Many?anxiety disorders?such as?post traumatic stress disorder?are believed to reflect, at least in part, a failure to extinguish conditioned fear.

(可能Extinction的意思是extinguish conditioned fear。anxiety disorders是經(jīng)歷了某事件后產(chǎn)生的emotional后遺癥，這種emotional 后遺癥不再發(fā)生了就叫Extinction，屬于emotional regulation中的一種。)