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Recent, sparse research shows post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) presents with abnormal spindle morphology and dysfunctional synaptic GABA\n                  <jats:sub>A<\/jats:sub>\n                  receptors in midline thalamic regions. We modeled this GABA\n                  <jats:sub>A<\/jats:sub>\n                  receptor dysfunction by localized CRISPR-Cas9-knockdown in mice. In contrast to a control group with intact GABA\n                  <jats:sub>A<\/jats:sub>\n                  receptors, mice with synaptic GABA\n                  <jats:sub>A<\/jats:sub>\n                  receptor knock-down in thalamocortical (TC) neurons lost the characteristic waxing and waning shape of sleep spindles and exhibited a failure to diminish conditioned contextual fear responses. Our results suggest that abnormally shaped sleep spindles may be a marker of synaptic GABA dysfunction in TC neurons and an indicator of disrupted fear extinction.\n                <\/jats:p>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>One Sentence Summary<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Abnormal sleep spindle shape reveals underlying inhibitory thalamic dysfunction leading to impaired fear extinction.<\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.05.28.728431","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,29]],"date-time":"2026-05-29T14:35:17Z","timestamp":1780065317000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Synaptic GABA dysfunction of thalamocortical neurons impairs sleep spindle morphology and fear extinction"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1411-6317","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fumi","family":"Katsuki","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"VA Boston Healthcare System; West Roxbury, MA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-5813-5741","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Meghan C.","family":"Bauer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem; PA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mitchell J.","family":"Vaughn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem; PA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Victoria A.","family":"Lombardi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"VA Boston Healthcare System; West Roxbury, MA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7164-4132","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ritchie E.","family":"Brown","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"VA Boston Healthcare System; West Roxbury, MA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1571-8512","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Julie S.","family":"Haas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem; PA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4052-6897","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Radhika","family":"Basheer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"VA Boston Healthcare System; West Roxbury, MA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6592-3223","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"David S.","family":"Uygun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"VA Boston Healthcare System; West Roxbury, MA, USA"},{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA"},{"name":"Current Address: School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick; Coventry UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026093005502610000_2026.05.28.728431v2.1","unstructured":"Rechtschaffen, A. & Kales, A. 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