scholarly journals Temporally-precise basolateral amygdala activation is required for the formation of taste memories in gustatory cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elor Arieli ◽  
Ron Gerbi ◽  
Mark Shein-Idelson ◽  
Anan Moran
Keyword(s):  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Nucleus Basalis ◽  
Electrophysiological Recording ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Projection Neurons ◽  
Dynamic Activity ◽  
Gustatory Cortex ◽  
Taste Experience

AbstractLearning to associate malaise with the intake of novel food is critical for survival. Since food poisoning may take hours to affect, animals developed brain circuits to transform the current novel taste experience into a taste memory trace (TMT) and bridge this time lag. Ample studies showed that the basolateral amygdala (BLA), the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) and the gustatory cortex (GC) are involved in TMT formation and taste-malaise association. However, how dynamic activity across these brain regions during novel taste experience promotes the formation of these memories is currently unknown. We used the conditioned taste aversion (CTA) learning paradigm in combination with short-term optogenetics and electrophysiological recording in rats to test the hypothesis that temporally specific activation of BLA projection neurons is essential for TMT formation in the GC, and consequently CTA. We found that late-epoch (LE, >800ms), but not the early epoch (EE, 200-700ms), BLA activation during novel taste experience is essential for normal CTA, for early c-Fos expression in the GC (a marker of TMT formation) and for the subsequent changes in GC ensemble palatability coding. Interestingly, BLA activity was not required for intact taste identity or palatability perceptions. We further show that BLA-LE information is transmitted to GC through the BLA→NBM pathway where it affects the formation of taste memories. These results expose the dependence of long-term memory formation on specific temporal windows during sensory responses and the distributed circuits supporting this dependence.SignificanceConsumption of a novel taste may result in malaise and poses a threat to animals. Since the effects of poisoning appear only hours after consumption, animals must store the novel taste’s information in memory until they associate it with its value (nutritious or poisonous). Here we elucidate the neuronal activity patterns and circuits that support the processing and creation of novel-taste memories in rats. Our results show that specific patterns of temporal activation in the basolateral amygdala transmitted across brain areas are important for formation of taste memory and taste-malaise association. These findings may shed light on long-term activity-to-memory transformation in other sensory modalities.

scholarly journals Deletion of Stk11 and Fos in mouse BLA projection neurons alters intrinsic excitability and impairs formation of long-term aversive memory

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Levitan ◽  
Chenghao Liu ◽  
Tracy Yang ◽  
Yasuyuki Shima ◽  
Jian-You Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Neuronal Excitability ◽  
Early Gene ◽  
Intrinsic Excitability ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Projection Neurons ◽  
Impaired Memory ◽  
Kinase Pathway

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is a form of one-trial learning dependent on basolateral amygdala projection neurons (BLApn). Its underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. RNAseq from BLApn identified changes in multiple candidate learning-related transcripts including the expected immediate early gene Fos and Stk11, a master kinase of the AMP-related kinase pathway with important roles in growth, metabolism and development, but not previously implicated in learning. Deletion of Stk11 in BLApn blocked memory prior to training, but not following it and increased neuronal excitability. Conversely, BLApn had reduced excitability following CTA. BLApn knockout of a second learning-related gene, Fos, also increased excitability and impaired learning. Independently increasing BLApn excitability chemogenetically during CTA also impaired memory. STK11 and C-FOS activation were independent of one another. These data suggest key roles for Stk11 and Fos in CTA long-term memory formation, dependent at least partly through convergent action on BLApn intrinsic excitability.

scholarly journals Deletion of Stk11 and Fos in mouse BLA projection neurons alters intrinsic excitability and impairs formation of long-term aversive memory

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Levitan ◽  
Chenghao Liu ◽  
Tracy Yang ◽  
Yasuyuki Shima ◽  
Jian-You Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Early Gene ◽  
Intrinsic Excitability ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Projection Neurons ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Growth Metabolism

AbstractConditioned taste aversion (CTA) is a form of one-trial learning dependent on basolateral amygdala projection neurons (BLApn). Its underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms are poorly understood, however. We used RNAseq from BLApn to identify learning-related changes in Stk11, a kinase with well-studied roles in growth, metabolism and development, but not previously implicated in learning. Deletion of Stk11 restricted to BLApn completely blocks memory when occurring prior to training, but not following it, despite altering neither BLApn-dependent encoding of taste palatability in gustatory cortex, nor transcriptional activation of BLApn during training. Deletion of Stk11 in BLApn also increases their intrinsic excitability. Conversely, BLApn activated by CTA to express the immediate early gene Fos had reduced excitability. BLApn knockout of Fos also increased excitability and impaired learning. These data suggest that Stk11 and Fos expression play key roles in CTA long-term memory formation, perhaps by modulating the intrinsic excitability of BLApn.

Frequency selectivity, multistability, and oscillations emerge from models of genetic regulatory systems

1998 ◽  
Vol 274 (2) ◽  
pp. C531-C542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Smolen ◽  
Douglas A. Baxter ◽  
John H. Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Cellular Response ◽  
Cultured Cells ◽  
Computational Approach ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Mrna Levels ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Dynamic Activity ◽  
Regulatory Systems ◽  
Complex Models

To examine the capability of genetic regulatory systems for complex dynamic activity, we developed simple kinetic models that incorporate known features of these systems. These include autoregulation and stimulus-dependent phosphorylation of transcription factors (TFs), dimerization of TFs, crosstalk, and feedback. The simplest model manifested multiple stable steady states, and brief perturbations could switch the model between these states. Such transitions might explain, for example, how a brief pulse of hormone or neurotransmitter could elicit a long-lasting cellular response. In slightly more complex models, oscillatory regimes were identified. The addition of competition between activating and repressing TFs provided a plausible explanation for optimal stimulus frequencies that give maximal transcription. Such optimal frequencies are suggested by recent experiments comparing training paradigms for long-term memory formation and examining changes in mRNA levels in repetitively stimulated cultured cells. In general, the computational approach illustrated here, combined with appropriate experiments, provides a conceptual framework for investigating the function of genetic regulatory systems.

scholarly journals Long-Term Memory for Pavlovian Fear Conditioning Requires Dopamine in the Nucleus Accumbens and Basolateral Amygdala

PLoS ONE ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. e12751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan P. Fadok ◽  
Martin Darvas ◽  
Tavis M. K. Dickerson ◽  
Richard D. Palmiter
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Pavlovian Fear Conditioning ◽  
Term Memory

scholarly journals Perineuronal nets protect long-term memory by limiting activity-dependent inhibition from parvalbumin interneurons

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (52) ◽  
pp. 27063-27073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Shi ◽  
Xiangbo Wei ◽  
Xiaofei Wang ◽  
Shuwen Du ◽  
Weixuan Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Memory Consolidation ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Fear Memory ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Projection Neurons ◽  
Perineuronal Nets ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Memory Consolidation And Reconsolidation

Perineuronal nets (PNNs), a complex of extracellular matrix molecules that mostly surround GABAergic neurons in various brain regions, play a critical role in synaptic plasticity. The function and cellular mechanisms of PNNs in memory consolidation and reconsolidation processes are still not well understood. We hypothesized that PNNs protect long-term memory by limiting feedback inhibition from parvalbumin (PV) interneurons to projection neurons. Using behavioral, electrophysiological, and optogenetic approaches, we investigated the role of PNNs in fear memory consolidation and reconsolidation and GABAergic long-term potentiation (LTP). We made the discovery that the formation of PNNs was promoted by memory events in the hippocampus (HP), and we also demonstrated that PNN formation in both the HP and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is essential for memory consolidation and reconsolidation of recent and remote memories. Removal of PNNs resulted in evident LTP impairments, which were rescued by acute application of picrotoxin, a GABAAreceptor blocker, indicating that enhanced inhibition was the cause of the LTP impairments induced by PNN removal. Moreover, removal of PNNs switched GABAAreceptor-mediated long-term depression to LTP through a presynaptic mechanism. Furthermore, the reduced activity of PV interneurons surrounded by PNNs regulated theta oscillations during fear memory consolidation. Finally, optogenetically suppressing PV interneurons rescued the memory impairment caused by removal of PNNs. Altogether, these results unveil the function of PV interneurons surrounding PNNs in protecting recent and remote contextual memory through the regulation of PV neuron GABA release.

scholarly journals Histamine in the basolateral amygdala promotes inhibitory avoidance learning independently of hippocampus

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (19) ◽  
pp. E2536-E2542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Benetti ◽  
Cristiane Regina Guerino Furini ◽  
Jociane de Carvalho Myskiw ◽  
Gustavo Provensi ◽  
Maria Beatrice Passani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Dorsal Hippocampus ◽  
Inhibitory Avoidance ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Histaminergic System ◽  
Brain Histamine ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
The Brain

Recent discoveries demonstrated that recruitment of alternative brain circuits permits compensation of memory impairments following damage to brain regions specialized in integrating and/or storing specific memories, including both dorsal hippocampus and basolateral amygdala (BLA). Here, we first report that the integrity of the brain histaminergic system is necessary for long-term, but not for short-term memory of step-down inhibitory avoidance (IA). Second, we found that phosphorylation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) responsive-element-binding protein, a crucial mediator in long-term memory formation, correlated anatomically and temporally with histamine-induced memory retrieval, showing the active involvement of histamine function in CA1 and BLA in different phases of memory consolidation. Third, we found that exogenous application of histamine in either hippocampal CA1 or BLA of brain histamine-depleted rats, hence amnesic, restored long-term memory; however, the time frame of memory rescue was different for the two brain structures, short lived (immediately posttraining) for BLA, long lasting (up to 6 h) for the CA1. Moreover, long-term memory was formed immediately after training restoring of histamine transmission only in the BLA. These findings reveal the essential role of histaminergic neurotransmission to provide the brain with the plasticity necessary to ensure memorization of emotionally salient events, through recruitment of alternative circuits. Hence, our findings indicate that the histaminergic system comprises parallel, coordinated pathways that provide compensatory plasticity when one brain structure is compromised.

scholarly journals Brownian motion or Lévy walk? Stepping towards an extended statistical mechanics for animal locomotion

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (74) ◽  
pp. 2332-2340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arild O. Gautestad
Keyword(s):  
Brownian Motion ◽  
Statistical Mechanics ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Scale Free ◽  
Explicit Consideration ◽  
Statistical Mechanical ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Animals moving under the influence of spatio-temporal scaling and long-term memory generate a kind of space-use pattern that has proved difficult to model within a coherent theoretical framework. An extended kind of statistical mechanics is needed, accounting for both the effects of spatial memory and scale-free space use, and put into a context of ecological conditions. Simulations illustrating the distinction between scale-specific and scale-free locomotion are presented. The results show how observational scale (time lag between relocations of an individual) may critically influence the interpretation of the underlying process. In this respect, a novel protocol is proposed as a method to distinguish between some main movement classes. For example, the ‘power law in disguise’ paradox—from a composite Brownian motion consisting of a superposition of independent movement processes at different scales—may be resolved by shifting the focus from pattern analysis at one particular temporal resolution towards a more process-oriented approach involving several scales of observation. A more explicit consideration of system complexity within a statistical mechanical framework, supplementing the more traditional mechanistic modelling approach, is advocated.

Conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) supports core claims of Christiansen and Chater

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary C. Potter
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Use Of Knowledge

AbstractRapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of words or pictured scenes provides evidence for a large-capacity conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) that momentarily provides rich associated material from long-term memory, permitting rapid chunking (Potter 1993; 2009; 2012). In perception of scenes as well as language comprehension, we make use of knowledge that briefly exceeds the supposed limits of working memory.

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