AbstractMemory retrieval refers to the fundamental ability of organisms to make use of acquired, sometimes inconsistent, information about the world. While memory acquisition has been studied extensively, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying memory retrieval remain largely unknown. The anterior insula (aIC) is indispensable in the ability of mammals to retrieve associative information regarding tastants that have been previously linked with gastric malaise. Here, we show that aversive taste memory retrieval promotes cell-type-specific activation in the aIC. Aversive, but not appetitive taste memory retrieval, relies on specific changes in activity and connectivity at parvalbumin (PV) inhibitory synapses onto aIC pyramidal neurons projecting to the basolateral amygdala. PV aIC interneurons, coordinate aversive taste memory retrieval, and are necessary for its dominance when conflicting internal representations are encountered. This newly described interaction of PV and a subset of excitatory neurons can explain the coherency of aversive memory retrieval, an evolutionary pre-requisite for animal survival.Graphical AbstractRetrieval of Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA) memories at the anterior insular cortex activates Parvalbumin (PV) interneurons and increases synaptic inhibition onto activated pyramidal neurons projecting to the basolateral amygdala (aIC-BLA).Unlike innately appetitive taste memory retrieval, CTA retrieval increases the amplitude and frequency of synaptic inhibition onto aIC-BLA projecting neurons, that is dependent on activity in aIC PV interneurons.Activation of aIC PV interneurons is necessary for the expression of learned taste avoidance, in both sexes, regardless of stimulus identity.Extinction of aversive taste memories suppresses the frequency, but not the amplitude of synaptic inhibition on aIC-BLA projecting neurons.The reinstatement of aversive taste memories following extinction is dependent upon activation of aIC PV interneurons and increases in the frequency of inhibition on aIC-BLA projecting neurons.
Basolateral amygdala GABA-A receptors mediate stress-induced memory retrieval impairment in rats