TY  - JOUR
AU  - Favila, Natalia
AU  - Capece Marsico, Jessica
AU  - Pacheco, Catarina M.
AU  - Kenet, Selin
AU  - Escribano, Benjamin
AU  - Bitterman, Yael
AU  - Gründemann, Jan
AU  - Lüthi, Andreas
AU  - Krabbe, Sabine
TI  - Heterogeneous plasticity of amygdala interneurons in associative learning and extinction
JO  - Nature Communications
VL  - 16
IS  - 1
SN  - 2041-1723
CY  - [London]
PB  - Springer Nature
M1  - DZNE-2025-01253
SP  - 9926
PY  - 2025
AB  - Neural circuits undergo experience-dependent plasticity to form long-lasting memories, but how inhibitory interneurons contribute to this process remains poorly understood. Using miniature microscope calcium imaging, we monitored the activity of large amygdala interneuron populations in freely moving mice during fear learning and extinction. Here we show that interneurons exhibit complex and heterogeneous plasticity at both single-cell and ensemble levels across memory acquisition, expression, and extinction. Analysis of molecular interneuron subpopulations revealed that disinhibitory vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)-expressing cells are predominantly activated by salient external stimuli, whereas the activity of projection neuron targeting somatostatin (SST) interneurons additionally aligns with internal behavioural states. Although responses within each interneuron subtype are non-uniform, molecular identity biases their functional role, producing weighted circuit outputs that can flexibly regulate excitatory projection neuron activity and plasticity. These findings demonstrate that inhibitory interneurons actively shape the encoding and stability of emotional memories, underscoring their importance in adaptive learning.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
DO  - DOI:10.1038/s41467-025-66122-y
UR  - https://pub.dzne.de/record/281911
ER  -