![]() Recent evidence showed that the cerebellum is also involved in fear extinction 10– 12 and exhibits anomalous functional connectivity with the emotional network in PTSD 13, 14. ![]() ![]() 6, and exhibits BOLD activations during emotion processing, notably in the medial part of the cerebellum 7– 9. Growing evidence indicates that the cerebellum has multiple connections with the fear network 3– 5 review in ref. The extinction of conditioned fear has been an essential paradigm to identify the brain networks and neural mechanisms involved in the suppression of fear 1, 2. Indeed, the failure to suppress fear responses underlies several anxiety disorders, such as the post-traumatic disorder (PTSD). Impaired emotion regulation is a growing concern in modern societies, and is responsible for major behavioral dysfunctions. Overall, these findings reveal a regulation of fear-related thalamo-cortical dynamics by the cerebellum and its contribution to fear extinction. Indeed, this MD bursting is followed by high levels of the dmPFC 4 Hz oscillations causally associated with fear responses during fear extinction, and the inhibition of FN-MD neurons increases the coherence of MD bursts and oscillations with dmPFC 4 Hz oscillations. The inhibition of FN inputs to MD in male mice impairs fear extinction in animals with high fear responses and increases the bursting of MD neurons, a firing pattern known to prevent extinction learning. The cerebellar fastigial nucleus (FN) projects to the lateral subregion of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MD), which is reciprocally connected with the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). Here, using male mice, we identify a cerebello-thalamo-cortical pathway regulating fear extinction. Fear extinction is a form of inhibitory learning that suppresses the expression of aversive memories and plays a key role in the recovery of anxiety and trauma-related disorders.
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