Memory persistence is a fundamental cognitive process for guiding behaviors and is considered to rely mostly on neuronal
and synaptic plasticity. Whether and how astrocytes contribute to memory persistence is largely unknown. Here, by using
two-photon Ca2+ imaging in head-fixed mice and fiber photometry in freely moving mice, we show that aversive sensory stimulation activates ?7-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in a subpopulation of astrocytes in the auditory cortex. We demonstrate that fear learning causes the de novo induction of sound-evoked Ca2+ transients in these astrocytes. The astrocytic
responsiveness persisted over days along with fear memory and disappeared in animals that underwent extinction of learned
freezing behavior. Conditional genetic deletion of ?7-nAChRs in astrocytes significantly impaired fear memory persistence. We
conclude that learning-acquired, ?7-nAChR-dependent astrocytic responsiveness is an integral part of the cellular substrate
underlying memory persistence