The ventral part of the anteromedial thalamic nucleus (AMv) is in a position to convey information to the cortico-hippocampal-amygdalar circuit involved in the processing of fear memory. Corticotropin-releasing-factor (CRF) neurons are closely associated with the regulation of stress and fear. However, few studies have focused on the role of thalamic CRF neurons in fear memory. In the present study, using a conditioned fear paradigm in CRF transgenic mice, we found that the c-Fos protein in the AMv CRF neurons was significantly increased after cued fear expression. Chemogenetic activation of AMv CRF neurons enhanced cued fear expression, whereas inhibition had the opposite effect on the cued fear response. Moreover, chemogenetic manipulation of AMv CRF neurons did not affect fear acquisition or contextual fear expression. In addition, anterograde tracing of projections revealed that AMv CRF neurons project to wide areas of the cerebral cortex and the limbic system. These results uncover a critical role of AMv CRF neurons in the regulation of conditioned fear memory.

前内侧丘脑核 (AMv) 的腹侧部分能够将信息传递到参与恐惧记忆处理的皮质-海马-杏仁核回路。促肾上腺皮质激素释放因子 (CRF) 神经元与压力和恐惧的调节密切相关。然而，很少有研究关注丘脑 CRF 神经元在恐惧记忆中的作用。在本研究中，在 CRF 转基因小鼠中使用条件恐惧范式，我们发现在提示恐惧表达后，AMv CRF 神经元中的 c-Fos 蛋白显着增加。AMv CRF 神经元的化学遗传学激活增强了暗示恐惧的表达，而抑制对暗示恐惧反应具有相反的作用。此外，AMv CRF 神经元的化学遗传学操作不影响恐惧获得或情境恐惧表达。此外，投射的顺行追踪显示，AMv CRF 神经元投射到大脑皮层和边缘系统的广泛区域。这些结果揭示了 AMv CRF 神经元在调节条件恐惧记忆中的关键作用。