Interneurons in the basolateral amygdala

The amygdala is a temporal lobe structure that is the center of emotion processing in the mammalian brain. Recent interest in the amygdala arises from its role in processing fear and the relationship of fear to human anxiety. The amygdaloid complex is divided into a number of subnuclei that have extensive intra and extra nuclear connections. In this review we discuss recent findings on the physiology and plasticity of inputs to interneurons in the basolateral amygdala, the primary input station. These interneurons are a heterogeneous group of cells that can be separated on immunohistochemical and electrophysiological grounds. Glutamatergic inputs to these interneurons form diverse types of excitatory synapses. This diversity is manifest in both the subunit composition of the underlying NMDA receptors as well as their ability to show plasticity. We discuss these differences and their relationship to fear learning.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘Synaptic Plasticity & Interneurons’.

Research highlights
► The amygdala is well known to play a key role in emotional processing.
► Dysfunction of the amygdala plays a central role in many anxiety disorders.
► Here we review the inhibitory micro-circuitry of the basolateral amygdala.
► We point out that there are significant differences between the amygdala and cortical inhibitory circuitry.
► Understanding this circuitry may provide novel targets for the treatment of anxiety disorders.