Prefrontal cortex glucocorticoid receptors during fear memory consolidation shift the balance between salience and default-mode networks at retrieval in rats
Contextual fear memories become less specific as they age, modeling fear overgeneralization seen in post-traumatic stress disorder. Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) signaling in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) during the immediate post-learning period may govern both endocrine recovery from an aversive experience and the eventual specificity of the resulting memory, but this link remains…
Research on rats suggests that glucocorticoid receptors in the prefrontal cortex play a crucial role in shaping the balance between salience and default-mode networks during the retrieval of fear memories. As fear memories age, they become less specific, mirroring the fear overgeneralization observed in post-traumatic stress disorder.
The study found that blocking glucocorticoid receptor (GR) signaling in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) during the early stages of memory consolidation can accelerate the recovery of corticosterone levels, prevent the memory from becoming overly specific, and result in a stronger and less context-specific freezing response when the memory is retrieved at a later time.
This behavioral change was accompanied by a shift in the retrieval network from being like a salience network to a default-mode network. The findings indicate that dmPFC glucocorticoid signaling acts as a mechanism that limits fear memory generalization as the memory transitions from a short-term, salience-focused state to a long-term, context-independent state.
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