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. 2019 Jun 21;13:132. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00132

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Copyright © 2019 Robinson-Drummer, Opendak, Blomkvist, Chan, Tan, Delmer, Wood, Sloan, Jacobs, Fine, Chopra, Sandler, Kamenetzky and Sullivan.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Developmental transitions in amygdala inputs regulating social suppression of threat. The neural circuit supporting infant fear learning and its maternal presence blockade (≤PN15) or attenuation (≥PN16) undergoes developmental changes. Social buffering in early infancy is supported by VTA-amygdala connectivity (≤PN15), while in older pups (PN28) and adults social attenuation of fear is supported by vmPFC-amygdala connectivity. This system is disrupted following early life abusive rearing. At PN18, the ability of the mother to block fear learning is abolished and VTA showed compromised suppression of the amygdala. Early life maltreatment leaves social suppression of fear learning intact at PN28, although it is effectiveness is reduced and social modulation of vmPFC engagement is significantly reduced.