AUTHOR=Cheng Han Yin , Fournier Danielle I. , Todd Travis P. TITLE=Retrosplenial cortex and aversive conditioning JOURNAL=Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience VOLUME=18 YEAR=2024 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1341705 DOI=10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1341705 ISSN=1662-5153 ABSTRACT=

The retrosplenial cortex (RSC) is well-known for its contribution to episodic memory, as well as contextual and spatial learning and memory. However, two literatures have also emerged examining the role of the RSC in aversive conditioning. The purpose of this manuscript is to review, and attempt to integrate, these two literatures. We focus on studies in which discrete cues, such as tones, predict the occurrence of aversive outcomes, such as mild shocks. Using both electrophysiological recordings and lesion methods, the first literature has examined RSC contributions to discriminative avoidance conditioning. The second, and more recent literature, has focused on the role of the RSC in Pavlovian fear conditioning. We discuss both literatures in terms of the type of information processed by the RSC, the role of the RSC in memory storage, and how the aversive conditioning literature might be consistent with a role for the RSC in contextual learning and memory.