Visualizing stimulus convergence in amygdala neurons during associative learning

Autor: Ilene L. Bernstein, Yasuhiro Kyono, Sabiha K. Barot, Emily Clark
Rok vydání: 2008
Předmět:
Zdroj: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105:20959-20963
ISSN: 1091-6490
0027-8424
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0808996106
Popis: A central feature of models of associative memory formation is the reliance on information convergence from pathways responsive to the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US). In particular, cells receiving coincident input are held to be critical for subsequent plasticity. Yet identification of neurons in the mammalian brain that respond to such coincident inputs during a learning event remains elusive. Here we use Arc c ellular compartmental a nalysis of t emporal gene transcription by f luorescence i n s itu h ybridization (catFISH) to locate populations of neurons in the mammalian brain that respond to both the CS and US during training in a one-trial learning task, conditioned taste aversion (CTA). Individual neurons in the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) responded to both the CS taste and US drug during conditioning. Coincident activation was not evident, however, when stimulus exposure was altered so as to be ineffective in promoting learning (backward conditioning, latent inhibition). Together, these data provide clear visualization of neurons in the mammalian brain receiving convergent information about the CS and US during acquisition of a learned association.
Databáze: OpenAIRE