Fig. 6: Interactions between IC-CeA and IC-NAc projectors in the local circuits changed with fear and extinction memories.

a, b Intrinsic electrophysiological properties. a Schematic of slice recordings. b Ramping current injection induced-action potentials. Left: example traces. Scale bars, 50 ms, 200 pA. Right: graphic summary. IC-CeA projector, n = 16 neurons from 6 mice; IC-NAc projector, n = 13 neurons from 7 mice. t₍₂₇₎ = 2.572, *P = 0.0159, two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test. c, d Effects of activation of IC-CeA projectors on IC-NAc projectors. c Schematic of AAV injections. Whole-cell recordings were made on IC-NAc projectors while activating IC-CeA projectors via blue-light stimuli. d Upper left: example traces of oEPSCs (holding = −70 mV) at the synapses from IC-CeA to IC-NAc projectors. Scale bars, 50 ms, 200 pA. Upper right: statistical analysis of the paired-pulse ratio of oEPSCs. CS only, n = 24 neurons from 9 mice; Fear Cond., n = 18 neurons from 8 mice. t₍₄₀₎ = 2.197, *P = 0.0339, two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test. Lower left: example traces showing oPSCs (holding = −40 mV) in IC-NAc projectors driven by activation of IC-CeA projectors. Scale bars, 50 ms, 200 pA. Lower right: statistical analysis of the IPSC/EPSC ratio of oPSCs. CS only, n = 16 neurons from 8 mice; Fear Cond., n = 12 neurons from 8 mice. t₍₂₆₎ = 3.454, **P = 0.0019, two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test. Blue dots, blue-light stimuli. Scale bars, 50 ms, 200 pA. e, f Similar to (c, d) for the EPSCs and PSCs in IC-CeA projectors driven by activation of IC-NAc projectors. f Upper left: scale bars, 50 ms, 200 pA. Lower left: scale bars, 50 ms, 100 pA. Paired-pulse ratios of EPSC, Fear Retr., n = 20 neurons from 10 mice; Ext., n = 21 neurons from 9 mice. IPSC/EPSC ratios, Fear Retr., n = 30 neurons from 11 mice; Ext., n = 18 neurons from 9 mice. Upper: t₍₃₉₎ = 4.291, ***P = 1.1363E−04; Lower: t₍₄₆₎ = 2.109, *P = 0.0404, two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.