A temporal shift in the circuits mediating retrieval of fear memory

Fear memories allow organisms to avoid danger, thereby increasing their chances of survival. Fear memories can be retrieved long after learning(1,2), but little is known about how retrieval circuits change with time(3,4). Here we show that the dorsal midline thalamus of rats is required for retrieval of auditory conditioned fear at late timepoints (24 h, 7 d, 28 d), but not early timepoints (0.5 h, 6 h) after learning. Consistent with this, the paraventricular subregion of the dorsal midline thalamus (PVT) showed increased cFos expression only at late timepoints, indicating that PVT is gradually recruited for fear retrieval. Accordingly, the conditioned tone responses of PVT neurons increased with time following training. The prelimbic (PL) prefrontal cortex, which is necessary for fear retrieval(5–7), sends dense projections to PVT(8). Retrieval at late timepoints activated PL neurons projecting to PVT, and optogenetic silencing of these projections impaired retrieval at late, but not early times. In contrast, silencing of PL inputs to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) impaired retrieval at early, but not late times, indicating a time-dependent shift in retrieval circuits. Retrieval at late timepoints also activated PVT neurons projecting to the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), and silencing these projections at late, but not early, times induced a persistent attenuation of fear. Thus, PVT may serve as a critical thalamic node recruited into cortico-amygalar networks for retrieval and maintenance of long-term fear memories.