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Franceschini A, Mazzamuto G, Checcucci C, Chicchi L, Fanelli D, Costantini I, Passani MB, Silva BA, Pavone FS, Silvestri L. Brain-wide neuron quantification toolkit reveals strong sexual dimorphism in the evolution of fear memory. Cell Rep 2023; 42:112908. [PMID: 37516963 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Fear responses are functionally adaptive behaviors that are strengthened as memories. Indeed, detailed knowledge of the neural circuitry modulating fear memory could be the turning point for the comprehension of this emotion and its pathological states. A comprehensive understanding of the circuits mediating memory encoding, consolidation, and retrieval presents the fundamental technological challenge of analyzing activity in the entire brain with single-neuron resolution. In this context, we develop the brain-wide neuron quantification toolkit (BRANT) for mapping whole-brain neuronal activation at micron-scale resolution, combining tissue clearing, high-resolution light-sheet microscopy, and automated image analysis. The robustness and scalability of this method allow us to quantify the evolution of activity patterns across multiple phases of memory in mice. This approach highlights a strong sexual dimorphism in recruited circuits, which has no counterpart in the behavior. The methodology presented here paves the way for a comprehensive characterization of the evolution of fear memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Franceschini
- European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
| | - Giacomo Mazzamuto
- European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; National Institute of Optics - National Research Council (CNR-INO), Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Curzio Checcucci
- Department of Information Engineering (DINFO), University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Chicchi
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Duccio Fanelli
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Irene Costantini
- European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Department of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | | | - Bianca Ambrogina Silva
- National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Neuroscience, Milan, Italy; IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Lab of Circuits Neuroscience, Rozzano, Milan, Italy
| | - Francesco Saverio Pavone
- European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; National Institute of Optics - National Research Council (CNR-INO), Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Ludovico Silvestri
- European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy; National Institute of Optics - National Research Council (CNR-INO), Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
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Jhuang YC, Chang CH. Differential roles of nucleus reuniens and perirhinal cortex in Pavlovian trace fear conditioning in rats. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:3498-3510. [PMID: 35952337 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The nucleus reuniens (RE) and the perirhinal cortex (PRC) are two major relay stations that interconnect the hippocampus (HPC) and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Previous studies have shown that both the RE and the PRC are involved in the acquisition of trace fear conditioning. However, the respective contribution of the two regions is unclear. In this study, we used pharmacological approach to compare their roles. Our data suggested that inactivation of the RE or the PRC during conditioning partially impaired, whereas inactivation of both areas totally abolished, the encoding of trace fear. We next examined whether the impaired encoding of trace fear under RE inactivation can be rescued with enhanced cholinergic tone in the PRC, and vice versa. Against our hypothesis, regardless of whether the RE was on-line or not, animals failed to encode trace fear when further engaging cholinergic activities in the PRC. Conversely, depending on PRC activation level during conditioning, further recruiting cholinergic activities in the RE led to a down-shift of fear response during retrieval. Our results revealed that the RE and the PRC were necessary for the encoding of trace fear. Moreover, there was differential importance of cholinergic modulation during the process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Ci Jhuang
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
| | - Chun-Hui Chang
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.,Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
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Schlecht M, Jayachandran M, Rasch GE, Allen TA. Dual projecting cells linking thalamic and cortical communication routes between the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2022; 188:107586. [PMID: 35045320 PMCID: PMC8851867 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2022.107586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Revised: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The interactions between the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the hippocampus (HC) are critical for memory and decision making and have been specifically implicated in several neurological disorders including schizophrenia, epilepsy, frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. The ventral midline thalamus (vmThal), and lateral entorhinal cortex and perirhinal cortex (LEC/PER) constitute major communication pathways that facilitate mPFC-HC interactions in memory. Although vmThal and LEC/PER circuits have been delineated separately we sought to determine whether these two regions share cell-specific inputs that could influence both routes simultaneously. To do this we used a dual fluorescent retrograde tracing approach using cholera toxin subunit-B (CTB-488 and CTB-594) with injections targeting vmThal and the LEC/PER in rats. Retrograde cell body labeling was examined in key regions of interest within the mPFC-HC system including: (1) mPFC, specifically anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsal and ventral prelimbic cortex (dPL, vPL), and infralimbic cortex (IL); (2) medial and lateral septum (MS, LS); (3) subiculum (Sub) along the dorsal-ventral and proximal-distal axes; and (4) LEC and medial entorhinal cortex (MEC). Results showed that dual vmThal-LEC/PER-projecting cell populations are found in MS, vSub, and the shallow layers II/III of LEC and MEC. We did not find any dual projecting cells in mPFC or in the cornu ammonis (CA) subfields of the HC. Thus, mPFC and HC activity is sent to vmThal and LEC/PER via non-overlapping projection cell populations. Importantly, the dual projecting cell populations in MS, vSub, and EC are in a unique position to simultaneously influence both cortical and thalamic mPFC-HC pathways critical to memory. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The interactions between mPFC and HC are critical for learning and memory, and dysfunction within this circuit is implicated in various neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. mPFC-HC interactions are mediated through multiple communication pathways including a thalamic hub through the vmThal and a cortical hub through lateral entorhinal cortex and perirhinal cortex. Our data highlight newly identified dual projecting cell populations in the septum, Sub, and EC of the rat brain. These dual projecting cells may have the ability to modify the information flow within the mPFC-HC circuit through synchronous activity, and thus offer new cell-specific circuit targets for basic and translational studies in memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Schlecht
- Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA
| | - Maanasa Jayachandran
- Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA
| | - Gabriela E Rasch
- Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA; Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Timothy A Allen
- Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, USA.
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4
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Jiang C, Wu X, Wang J, Li C, Luo G. Activation of CB1 pathway in the perirhinal cortex is necessary but not sufficient for destabilization of contextual fear memory in rats. Behav Brain Res 2022; 416:113573. [PMID: 34499934 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2021] [Revised: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 08/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
According to the reconsolidation theory, memories can be modified through the destabilization-reconsolidation process. The rodent perirhinal cortex (PER; Brodmann areas 35 and 36) critically participates in the process of fear conditioning. Previous studies showed that some of the parahippocampal regions are critical for contextual fear memory reconsolidation. In our research, through a three-day paradigm of CFC, we showed that protein synthesis in PER of rats is required for memory reconsolidation, and activation of CB1 pathway is necessary but not sufficient in inducing memory destabilization. This result underlines parahippocampal regions in destabilization and reconsolidation process of fear memory besides amygdala and hippocampus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Che Jiang
- Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Southern Theatre Command, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Xiaona Wu
- Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Southern Theatre Command, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiajia Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Southern Theatre Command, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chunyong Li
- Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Southern Theatre Command, Guangzhou, China
| | - Gaoquan Luo
- Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Southern Theatre Command, Guangzhou, China
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5
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Peng X, Burwell RD. Beyond the hippocampus: The role of parahippocampal-prefrontal communication in context-modulated behavior. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2021; 185:107520. [PMID: 34537379 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Multiple paradigms indicate that the physical environment can influence spontaneous and learned behavior. In rodents, context-dependent behavior is putatively supported by the prefrontal cortex and the medial temporal lobe. A preponderance of the literature has targeted the role of the hippocampus. In addition to the hippocampus proper, the medial temporal lobe also comprises parahippocampal areas, including the perirhinal and postrhinal cortices. These parahippocampal areas directly connect with multiple regions in the prefrontal cortex. The function of these connections, however, is not well understood. This article first reviews the involvement of the perirhinal, postrhinal, and prefrontal cortices in context-dependent behavior in rodents. Then, based on functional and anatomical evidence, we suggest that perirhinal and postrhinal contributions to context-dependent behavior go beyond supporting context representation in the hippocampus. Specifically, we propose that the perirhinal and postrhinal cortices act as a contextual-support network that directly provides contextual and spatial information to the prefrontal cortex. In turn, the perirhinal and postrhinal cortices modulate prefrontal input to the hippocampus in the service of context-guided behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangyuan Peng
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Rebecca D Burwell
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
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6
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Perirhinal and Postrhinal Damage Have Different Consequences on Attention as Assessed in the Five-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task. eNeuro 2021; 8:ENEURO.0210-21.2021. [PMID: 34475265 PMCID: PMC8462067 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0210-21.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The perirhinal (PER) and postrhinal (POR) cortices, structures in the medial temporal lobe, are implicated in learning and memory. The PER is understood to process object information and the POR to process spatial or contextual information. Whether the medial temporal lobe is dedicated to memory, however, is under debate. In this study, we addressed the hypothesis that the PER and POR are also involved in non-mnemonic cognitive functions. Rats with PER or POR damage and SHAM surgical controls were shaped, trained, and tested on the five-choice serial reaction time (5CSRT) task, which assesses attention and executive function. Rats with PER damage were impaired in acquiring the task and at asymptote, although processing information about objects was not relevant to the task. When confronted with attentional challenges, rats with PER damage showed a pattern consistent with decreased attentional capacity, increased response errors, and increased impulsive behavior. Rats with POR damage showed intact acquisition and normal asymptotic performance. They also exhibited faster latencies in the absence of speed accuracy trade-off suggesting enhanced response readiness. We suggest this increased response readiness results from decreased automatic monitoring of the local environment, which might normally compete with response readiness. Our findings are consistent with a role for PER in controlled attention and a role for POR in stimulus-driven attention providing evidence that the PER and POR cortices have functions that go beyond memory for objects and memory for scenes and contexts, respectively. These findings provide new evidence for functional specialization in the medial temporal lobe.
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7
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Headley DB, Kyriazi P, Feng F, Nair SS, Pare D. Gamma Oscillations in the Basolateral Amygdala: Localization, Microcircuitry, and Behavioral Correlates. J Neurosci 2021; 41:6087-6101. [PMID: 34088799 PMCID: PMC8276735 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3159-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 04/04/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The lateral (LA) and basolateral (BL) nuclei of the amygdala regulate emotional behaviors. Despite their dissimilar extrinsic connectivity, they are often combined, perhaps because their cellular composition is similar to that of the cerebral cortex, including excitatory principal cells reciprocally connected with fast-spiking interneurons (FSIs). In the cortex, this microcircuitry produces gamma oscillations that support information processing and behavior. We tested whether this was similarly the case in the rat (males) LA and BL using extracellular recordings, biophysical modeling, and behavioral conditioning. During periods of environmental assessment, both nuclei exhibited gamma oscillations that stopped upon initiation of active behaviors. Yet, BL exhibited more robust spontaneous gamma oscillations than LA. The greater propensity of BL to generate gamma resulted from several microcircuit differences, especially the proportion of FSIs and their interconnections with principal cells. Furthermore, gamma in BL but not LA regulated the efficacy of excitatory synaptic transmission between connected neurons. Together, these results suggest fundamental differences in how LA and BL operate. Most likely, gamma in LA is externally driven, whereas in BL it can also arise spontaneously to support ruminative processing and the evaluation of complex situations.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The basolateral amygdala (BLA) participates in the production and regulation of emotional behaviors. It is thought to perform this using feedforward circuits that enhance stimuli that gain emotional significance and directs them to valence-appropriate downstream effectors. This perspective overlooks the fact that its microcircuitry is recurrent and potentially capable of generating oscillations in the gamma band (50-80 Hz), which synchronize spiking activity and modulate communication between neurons. This study found that BLA gamma supports both of these processes, is associated with periods of action selection and environmental assessment regardless of valence, and differs between BLA subnuclei in a manner consistent with their heretofore unknown microcircuit differences. Thus, it provides new mechanisms for BLA to support emotional behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Drew B Headley
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey 07102
| | - Pinelopi Kyriazi
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey 07102
- Behavioral and Neural Sciences Graduate Program, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey 07102
| | - Feng Feng
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211
| | - Satish S Nair
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211
| | - Denis Pare
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey 07102
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8
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Fiorilli J, Bos JJ, Grande X, Lim J, Düzel E, Pennartz CMA. Reconciling the object and spatial processing views of the perirhinal cortex through task-relevant unitization. Hippocampus 2021; 31:737-755. [PMID: 33523577 PMCID: PMC8359385 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Revised: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 01/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The perirhinal cortex is situated on the border between sensory association cortex and the hippocampal formation. It serves an important function as a transition area between the sensory neocortex and the medial temporal lobe. While the perirhinal cortex has traditionally been associated with object coding and the "what" pathway of the temporal lobe, current evidence suggests a broader function of the perirhinal cortex in solving feature ambiguity and processing complex stimuli. Besides fulfilling functions in object coding, recent neurophysiological findings in freely moving rodents indicate that the perirhinal cortex also contributes to spatial and contextual processing beyond individual sensory modalities. Here, we address how these two opposing views on perirhinal cortex-the object-centered and spatial-contextual processing hypotheses-may be reconciled. The perirhinal cortex is consistently recruited when different features can be merged perceptually or conceptually into a single entity. Features that are unitized in these entities include object information from multiple sensory domains, reward associations, semantic features and spatial/contextual associations. We propose that the same perirhinal network circuits can be flexibly deployed for multiple cognitive functions, such that the perirhinal cortex performs similar unitization operations on different types of information, depending on behavioral demands and ranging from the object-related domain to spatial, contextual and semantic information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Fiorilli
- Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Group, SILS Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
- Research Priority Area Brain and CognitionUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
| | - Jeroen J. Bos
- Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Group, SILS Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
- Research Priority Area Brain and CognitionUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviorRadboud University and Radboud University Medical CentreNijmegenThe Netherlands
| | - Xenia Grande
- Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia ResearchOtto‐von‐Guericke University MagdeburgMagdeburgGermany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative DiseasesMagdeburgGermany
| | - Judith Lim
- Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Group, SILS Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
- Research Priority Area Brain and CognitionUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
| | - Emrah Düzel
- Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia ResearchOtto‐von‐Guericke University MagdeburgMagdeburgGermany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative DiseasesMagdeburgGermany
- Institute of Cognitive NeuroscienceUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | - Cyriel M. A. Pennartz
- Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Group, SILS Center for NeuroscienceUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
- Research Priority Area Brain and CognitionUniversity of AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
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9
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Allen TA, Furtak SC. Introduction to the special issue on extrahippocampal contributions to hippocampal-dependent memory. Hippocampus 2021; 31:634-639. [PMID: 34117810 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Timothy A Allen
- Cognitive Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA
| | - Sharon C Furtak
- Department of Psychology, California State University Sacramento, Sacramento, California, USA
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10
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Bartley TD, Furtak SC. Perirhinal damage produces modality-dependent deficits in fear learning. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2021; 181:107427. [PMID: 33798696 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/28/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The perirhinal cortex (PER) receives multimodal and unimodal sensory information from all modalities. In addition, the PER is anatomically connected with several brain regions that support fear learning. Several studies suggest that the PER is involved in fear conditioning to discontinuous auditory cues but not to continuous auditory cues. To date, studies examining the role of the PER in fear conditioning has largely focused on auditory and contextual stimuli. The present study assessed whether the role of the PER in fear conditioning would extend to visual modalities. Rodents were randomly assigned to one of four conditioned stimuli, which consisted of either a tone or a light stimulus that was either continuous or discontinuous. Pre-training excitotoxic lesions to the PER significantly reduced freezing to auditory and visual cues during the acquisition phase regardless of stimulus continuity. During subsequent testing, perirhinal lesions produced significant decreases in freezing levels to both continuous and discontinuous tones but not to either of the light CS groups. These results suggest that the PER is involved in the acquisition of fear across multiple cue modalities. However, the PER may have a more limited role in the retrieval of the fear memory dependent upon the cue modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trevor D Bartley
- Department of Psychology, California State University Sacramento, Sacramento, CA 95819, USA
| | - Sharon C Furtak
- Department of Psychology, California State University Sacramento, Sacramento, CA 95819, USA.
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11
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de Paiva JPQ, Bueno APA, Dos Santos Corrêa M, Oliveira MGM, Ferreira TL, Fornari RV. The posterior insular cortex is necessary for the consolidation of tone fear conditioning. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2021; 179:107402. [PMID: 33581316 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2021.107402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The insular cortex (IC) is notably implicated in emotional and cognitive processing; however, little is known regarding to what extent its two main subregions play functionally distinct roles on memory consolidation of conditioned fear tasks. Here we verified the effects of temporary functional inactivation of the anterior (aIC) and posterior IC (pIC) on contextual and tone fear memory. Rats received post-training bilateral infusions of the GABAA receptor agonist muscimol into either the aIC or pIC and were tested 48 and 72 h after the delay tone fear conditioning session to assess the background contextual (CFC) and tone (TFC) fear conditioning, respectively. Inactivation of the aIC during memory consolidation did not affect fear memory for CFC or TFC. On the other hand, post-training inactivation of the pIC impaired TFC but not CFC. Our findings indicate that the pIC is a necessary part of the neural circuitry related to the consolidation of cued-fear memories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joselisa Peres Queiroz de Paiva
- Center for Mathematics, Computing and Cognition (CMCC), Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil; Imaging Research Center, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - A P A Bueno
- Center for Mathematics, Computing and Cognition (CMCC), Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
| | - M Dos Santos Corrêa
- Center for Mathematics, Computing and Cognition (CMCC), Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
| | - M G M Oliveira
- Department of Psychobiology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - T L Ferreira
- Center for Mathematics, Computing and Cognition (CMCC), Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil
| | - R V Fornari
- Center for Mathematics, Computing and Cognition (CMCC), Universidade Federal do ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil.
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12
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White JD, Arefin TM, Pugliese A, Lee CH, Gassen J, Zhang J, Kaffman A. Early life stress causes sex-specific changes in adult fronto-limbic connectivity that differentially drive learning. eLife 2020; 9:58301. [PMID: 33259286 PMCID: PMC7725504 DOI: 10.7554/elife.58301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
It is currently unclear whether early life stress (ELS) affects males and females differently. However, a growing body of work has shown that sex moderates responses to stress and injury, with important insights into sex-specific mechanisms provided by work in rodents. Unfortunately, most of the ELS studies in rodents were conducted only in males, a bias that is particularly notable in translational work that has used human imaging. Here we examine the effects of unpredictable postnatal stress (UPS), a mouse model of complex ELS, using high resolution diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. We show that UPS induces several neuroanatomical alterations that were seen in both sexes and resemble those reported in humans. In contrast, exposure to UPS induced fronto-limbic hyper-connectivity in males, but either no change or hypoconnectivity in females. Moderated-mediation analysis found that these sex-specific changes are likely to alter contextual freezing behavior in males but not in females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordon D White
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, United States
| | - Tanzil M Arefin
- Bernard and Irene Schwartz Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, United States
| | - Alexa Pugliese
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, United States
| | - Choong H Lee
- Bernard and Irene Schwartz Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, United States
| | - Jeff Gassen
- Department of Psychology, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, United States
| | - Jiangyang Zhang
- Bernard and Irene Schwartz Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, United States
| | - Arie Kaffman
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, United States
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13
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Allen LM, Lesyshyn RA, O'Dell SJ, Allen TA, Fortin NJ. The hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and perirhinal cortex are critical to incidental order memory. Behav Brain Res 2020; 379:112215. [PMID: 31682866 PMCID: PMC6917868 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2019] [Revised: 08/19/2019] [Accepted: 09/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Considerable research in rodents and humans indicates the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex are essential for remembering temporal relationships among stimuli, and accumulating evidence suggests the perirhinal cortex may also be involved. However, experimental parameters differ substantially across studies, which limits our ability to fully understand the fundamental contributions of these structures. In fact, previous studies vary in the type of temporal memory they emphasize (e.g., order, sequence, or separation in time), the stimuli and responses they use (e.g., trial-unique or repeated sequences, and incidental or rewarded behavior), and the degree to which they control for potential confounding factors (e.g., primary and recency effects, or order memory deficits secondary to item memory impairments). To help integrate these findings, we developed a new paradigm testing incidental memory for trial-unique series of events, and concurrently assessed order and item memory in animals with damage to the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, or perirhinal cortex. We found that this new approach led to robust order and item memory, and that hippocampal, prefrontal and perirhinal damage selectively impaired order memory. These findings suggest the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and perirhinal cortex are part of a broad network of structures essential for incidentally learning the order of events in episodic memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leila M Allen
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, United States; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, United States; Cogntive Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, United States
| | - Rachel A Lesyshyn
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, United States; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, United States
| | - Steven J O'Dell
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, United States
| | - Timothy A Allen
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, United States; Cogntive Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, United States
| | - Norbert J Fortin
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, United States; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, United States.
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14
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Meis S, Endres T, Munsch T, Lessmann V. The Relation Between Long-Term Synaptic Plasticity at Glutamatergic Synapses in the Amygdala and Fear Learning in Adult Heterozygous BDNF-Knockout Mice. Cereb Cortex 2019; 28:1195-1208. [PMID: 28184413 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhx032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2016] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) heterozygous knockout mice (BDNF+/- mice) show fear learning deficits from 3 months of age onwards. Here, we addressed the question how this learning deficit correlates with altered long-term potentiation (LTP) in the cortical synaptic input to the lateral amygdala (LA) and at downstream intra-amygdala synapses in BDNF+/- mice. Our results reveal that the fear learning deficit in BDNF+/- mice was not paralleled by a loss of LTP, neither at cortical inputs to the LA nor at downstream intra-amygdala glutamatergic synapses. As we did observe early fear memory (30 min after training) in BDNF+/- mice while long-term memory (24 h post-training) was absent, the stable LTP in cortico-LA and downstream synapses is in line with the intact acquisition of fear memories. Ex vivo recordings in acute slices of fear-conditioned wildtype (WT) mice revealed that fear learning induces long-lasting changes at cortico-LA synapses that occluded generation of LTP 4 and 24 h after training. Overall, our data show that the intact LTP in the tested amygdala circuits is consistent with intact acquisition of fear memories in both WT and BDNF+/- mice. In addition, the lack of learning-induced long-term changes at cortico-LA synapses in BDNF+/- mice parallels the observed deficit in fear memory consolidation.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Meis
- Institut für Physiologie, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Universitätsplatz 2, D-39106 Magdeburg, Germany
| | - T Endres
- Institut für Physiologie, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany
| | - T Munsch
- Institut für Physiologie, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Universitätsplatz 2, D-39106 Magdeburg, Germany
| | - V Lessmann
- Institut für Physiologie, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Universitätsplatz 2, D-39106 Magdeburg, Germany
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15
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Gilboa A, Sekeres M, Moscovitch M, Winocur G. The hippocampus is critical for value-based decisions guided by dissociative inference. Hippocampus 2018; 29:655-668. [PMID: 30417959 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.23050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2018] [Revised: 10/27/2018] [Accepted: 10/31/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The hippocampus supports flexible decision-making through memory integration: bridging across episodes and inferring associations between stimuli that were never presented together ('associative inference'). A pre-requisite for memory integration is flexible representations of the relationships between stimuli within episodes (AB) but also of the constituent units (A,B). Here we investigated whether the hippocampus is required for parsing experienced episodes into their constituents to infer their re-combined within-episode associations ('dissociative inference'). In three experiments male rats were trained on an appetitive conditioning task using compound auditory stimuli (AB+, BA+, CD-, DC-). At test either the compound or individual stimuli were presented as well as new stimuli. Rats with hippocampal lesions acquired and retained the compound discriminations as well as controls. Single constituent stimuli (A, B, C, D) were presented for the first time at test, so the only value with which they could be associated was the one from the compound to which they belonged. Controls inferred constituent tones' corresponding values while hippocampal rats did not, treating them as merely familiar stimuli with no associated value. This finding held whether compound training occurred before or after hippocampal lesions, suggesting that hippocampus-dependent inferential processes more likely occur at retrieval. The findings extend recent discoveries about the role of the hippocampus in intrinsic value representation, demonstrating hippocampal contributions to allocating value from primary rewards to individual stimuli. Importantly, we discovered that dissociative inferences serve to restructure or reparse patterns of directly acquired associations when animals are faced with environmental changes and need to extract relevant information from a multiplex memory. The hippocampus is critical for this fundamental flexible use of associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asaf Gilboa
- Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Melanie Sekeres
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
| | - Morris Moscovitch
- Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Gordon Winocur
- Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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16
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Sharma V, Cohen N, Sood R, Ounallah-Saad H, Gal-Ben-Ari S, Rosenblum K. Trace Fear Conditioning: Procedure for Assessing Complex Hippocampal Function in Mice. Bio Protoc 2018; 8:e2475. [PMID: 34395771 PMCID: PMC8328640 DOI: 10.21769/bioprotoc.2475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2017] [Revised: 12/06/2017] [Accepted: 01/08/2018] [Indexed: 10/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The trace fear conditioning protocol is designed to measure hippocampal function in mice. The protocol includes a neutral conditioned stimulus (tone) and an aversive unconditioned stimulus (shock), separated in time by a trace interval. The trace interval between the tone and the shock critically involves the hippocampus and could be used to evaluate hippocampal-dependent learning and memory. In this protocol, we presented mice with five pairings of tone and shock separated by a 20 sec trace interval. Freezing was measured 24 h after conditioning to evaluate contextual memory by placing mice in the conditioned chamber. In addition, 48 h after conditioning, freezing was measured in a dark chamber, which served as a different context. This method enables precise detection of hippocampal-dependent learning and memory following pharmacological and genetic manipulations that impair or enhance hippocampal function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vijendra Sharma
- Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Noah Cohen
- Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Rapita Sood
- Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Hadile Ounallah-Saad
- Sagol Department of Neurobiology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- Center for Gene Manipulation in the Brain, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | | | - Kobi Rosenblum
- Sagol Department of Neurobiology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- Center for Gene Manipulation in the Brain, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
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17
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Reboreda A, Theissen FM, Valero-Aracama MJ, Arboit A, Corbu MA, Yoshida M. Do TRPC channels support working memory? Comparing modulations of TRPC channels and working memory through G-protein coupled receptors and neuromodulators. Behav Brain Res 2018; 354:64-83. [PMID: 29501506 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.02.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2017] [Revised: 02/27/2018] [Accepted: 02/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Working memory is a crucial ability we use in daily life. However, the cellular mechanisms supporting working memory still remain largely unclear. A key component of working memory is persistent neural firing which is believed to serve short-term (hundreds of milliseconds up to tens of seconds) maintenance of necessary information. In this review, we will focus on the role of transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) channels as a mechanism underlying persistent firing. Many years of in vitro work have been suggesting a crucial role of TRPC channels in working memory and temporal association tasks. If TRPC channels are indeed a central mechanism for working memory, manipulations which impair or facilitate working memory should have a similar effect on TRPC channel modulation. However, modulations of working memory and TRPC channels were never systematically compared, and it remains unanswered whether TRPC channels indeed contribute to working memory in vivo or not. In this article, we review the effects of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) and neuromodulators, including acetylcholine, noradrenalin, serotonin and dopamine, on working memory and TRPC channels. Based on comparisons, we argue that GPCR and downstream signaling pathways that activate TRPC, generally support working memory, while those that suppress TRPC channels impair it. However, depending on the channel types, areas, and systems tested, this is not the case in all studies. Further work to clarify involvement of specific TRPC channels in working memory tasks and how they are affected by neuromodulators is still necessary in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Reboreda
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN) Magdeburg, Brenneckestraße 6, 39118 Magdeburg, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44/Haus 64, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany.
| | - Frederik M Theissen
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44/Haus 64, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Maria J Valero-Aracama
- Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Universitätsstraße 17, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Alberto Arboit
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44/Haus 64, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Mihaela A Corbu
- Ruhr University Bochum (RUB), Universitätsstraße 150, 44801, Bochum, Germany
| | - Motoharu Yoshida
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN) Magdeburg, Brenneckestraße 6, 39118 Magdeburg, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Magdeburg, Leipziger Str. 44/Haus 64, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany; Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany.
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18
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Danger Changes the Way the Mammalian Brain Stores Information About Innocuous Events: A Study of Sensory Preconditioning in Rats. eNeuro 2018; 5:eN-NWR-0381-17. [PMID: 29464195 PMCID: PMC5815846 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0381-17.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Revised: 12/07/2017] [Accepted: 12/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The amygdala is a critical substrate for learning about cues that signal danger. Less is known about its role in processing innocuous or background information. The present study addressed this question using a sensory preconditioning protocol in male rats. In each experiment, rats were exposed to pairings of two innocuous stimuli in stage 1, S2 and S1, and then to pairings of S1 and shock in stage 2. As a consequence of this training, control rats displayed defensive reactions (freezing) when tested with both S2 and S1. The freezing to S2 is a product of two associations formed in training: an S2-S1 association in stage 1 and an S1-shock association in stage 2. We examined the roles of two medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures in consolidation of the S2-S1 association: the perirhinal cortex (PRh) and basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA). When the S2-S1 association formed in a safe context, its consolidation required neuronal activity in the PRh (but not BLA), including activation of AMPA receptors and MAPK signaling. In contrast, when the S2-S1 association formed in a dangerous context, or when the context was rendered dangerous immediately after the association had formed, its consolidation required neuronal activity in the BLA (but not PRh), including activation of AMPA receptors and MAPK signaling. These roles of the PRh and BLA show that danger changes the way the mammalian brain stores information about innocuous events. They are discussed with respect to danger-induced changes in stimulus processing.
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19
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Ahlgrim NS, Raper J, Johnson E, Bachevalier J. Neonatal perirhinal cortex lesions impair monkeys' ability to modulate their emotional responses. Behav Neurosci 2017; 131:359-71. [PMID: 28956946 PMCID: PMC5675115 DOI: 10.1037/bne0000208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
The medial temporal lobe (MTL) is a collection of brain regions best known for their role in perception, memory, and emotional behavior. Within the MTL, the perirhinal cortex (PRh) plays a critical role in perceptual representation and recognition memory, although its contribution to emotional regulation is still debated. Here, rhesus monkeys with neonatal perirhinal lesions (Neo-PRh) and controls (Neo-C) were tested on the Human Intruder (HI) task at 2 months, 4.5 months, and 5 years of age to assess the role of the PRh in the development of emotional behaviors. The HI task presents a tiered social threat to which typically developing animals modulate their emotional responses according to the level of threat. Unlike animals with neonatal amygdala or hippocampal lesions, Neo-PRh animals were not broadly hyper- or hyporesponsive to the threat presented by the HI task as compared with controls. Instead, Neo-PRh animals displayed an impaired ability to modulate their freezing and anxiety-like behavioral responses according to the varying levels of threat. Impaired transmission of perceptual representation generated by the PRh to the amygdala and hippocampus may explain the animals' inability to appropriately assess and react to complex social stimuli. Neo-PRh animals also displayed fewer hostile behaviors in infancy and more coo vocalizations in adulthood. Neither stress-reactive nor basal cortisol levels were affected by the Neo-PRh lesions. Overall, these results suggest that the PRh is indirectly involved in the expression of emotional behavior and that effects of Neo-PRh lesions are dissociable from neonatal lesions to other temporal lobe structures. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan S. Ahlgrim
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Emory University, Atlanta GA
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta GA
| | - Jessica Raper
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta GA
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta GA
| | - Emily Johnson
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta GA
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta GA
| | - Jocelyne Bachevalier
- Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta GA
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta GA
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20
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Morellini F, Malyshev A, Volgushev M, Chistiakova M, Papashvili G, Fellini L, Kleene R, Schachner M, Dityatev A. Impaired Fear Extinction Due to a Deficit in Ca 2+ Influx Through L-Type Voltage-Gated Ca 2+ Channels in Mice Deficient for Tenascin-C. Front Integr Neurosci 2017; 11:16. [PMID: 28824389 PMCID: PMC5539374 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2017.00016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2017] [Accepted: 07/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Mice deficient in the extracellular matrix glycoprotein tenascin-C (TNC−/−) express a deficit in specific forms of hippocampal synaptic plasticity, which involve the L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (L-VGCCs). The mechanisms underlying this deficit and its functional implications for learning and memory have not been investigated. In line with previous findings, we report on impairment in theta-burst stimulation (TBS)-induced long-term potentiation (LTP) in TNC−/− mice in the CA1 hippocampal region and its rescue by the L-VGCC activator Bay K-8644. We further found that the overall pattern of L-VGCC expression in the hippocampus in TNC−/− mice was normal, but Western blot analysis results uncovered upregulated expression of the Cav1.2 and Cav1.3 α-subunits of L-VGCCs. However, these L-VGCCs were not fully functional in TNC−/− mice, as demonstrated by Ca2+ imaging, which revealed a reduction of nifedipine-sensitive Ca2+ transients in CA1 pyramidal neurons. TNC−/− mice showed normal learning and memory in the contextual fear conditioning paradigm but impaired extinction of conditioned fear responses. Systemic injection of the L-VGCC blockers nifedipine and diltiazem into wild-type mice mimicked the impairment of fear extinction observed in TNC−/− mice. The deficiency in TNC−/− mice substantially occluded the effects of these drugs. Our results suggest that TNC-mediated modulation of L-VGCC activity is essential for fear extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Morellini
- Institute for Biosynthesis of Neural Structures, Zentrum für Molekulare Neurobiologie Hamburg, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-EppendorfHamburg, Germany.,Research Group Behavioral Biology, Zentrum für Molekulare Neurobiologie Hamburg, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-EppendorfHamburg, Germany
| | - Aleksey Malyshev
- Department of Neurophysiology, Ruhr-University BochumBochum, Germany.,Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of SciencesMoscow, Russia
| | - Maxim Volgushev
- Department of Neurophysiology, Ruhr-University BochumBochum, Germany.,Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of SciencesMoscow, Russia.,Department of Psychological Sciences, University of ConnecticutStorrs, CT, United States
| | - Marina Chistiakova
- Department of Neurophysiology, Ruhr-University BochumBochum, Germany.,Department of Psychological Sciences, University of ConnecticutStorrs, CT, United States
| | - Giorgi Papashvili
- Institute for Biosynthesis of Neural Structures, Zentrum für Molekulare Neurobiologie Hamburg, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-EppendorfHamburg, Germany
| | - Laetitia Fellini
- Institute for Biosynthesis of Neural Structures, Zentrum für Molekulare Neurobiologie Hamburg, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-EppendorfHamburg, Germany
| | - Ralf Kleene
- Institute for Biosynthesis of Neural Structures, Zentrum für Molekulare Neurobiologie Hamburg, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-EppendorfHamburg, Germany
| | - Melitta Schachner
- Center for Neuroscience, Shantou University Medical CollegeShantou, China.,Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience and Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers UniversityPiscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Alexander Dityatev
- Institute for Biosynthesis of Neural Structures, Zentrum für Molekulare Neurobiologie Hamburg, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-EppendorfHamburg, Germany.,Molecular Neuroplasticity Group, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)Magdeburg, Germany.,Medical Faculty, Otto-von-Guericke UniversityMagdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS)Magdeburg, Germany
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21
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Bos JJ, Vinck M, van Mourik-Donga LA, Jackson JC, Witter MP, Pennartz CMA. Perirhinal firing patterns are sustained across large spatial segments of the task environment. Nat Commun 2017; 8:15602. [PMID: 28548084 PMCID: PMC5458559 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2016] [Accepted: 03/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Spatial navigation and memory depend on the neural coding of an organism's location. Fine-grained coding of location is thought to depend on the hippocampus. Likewise, animals benefit from knowledge parsing their environment into larger spatial segments, which are relevant for task performance. Here we investigate how such knowledge may be coded, and whether this occurs in structures in the temporal lobe, supplying cortical inputs to the hippocampus. We found that neurons in the perirhinal cortex of rats generate sustained firing patterns that discriminate large segments of the task environment. This contrasted to transient firing in hippocampus and sensory neocortex. These spatially extended patterns were not explained by task variables or temporally discrete sensory stimuli. Previously it has been suggested that the perirhinal cortex is part of a pathway processing object, but not spatial information. Our results indicate a greater complexity of neural coding than captured by this dichotomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeroen J. Bos
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Research Priority Program Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Martin Vinck
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Deutschordenstraße 46, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Laura A. van Mourik-Donga
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Research Priority Program Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jadin C. Jackson
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Medtronic, 7000 Central Avenue NE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55432, USA
| | - Menno P. Witter
- Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Centre for Neural Computation, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, DMF, NTNU PO Box 8905, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Cyriel M. A. Pennartz
- Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Research Priority Program Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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22
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Kinnavane L, Amin E, Olarte-Sánchez CM, Aggleton JP. Medial temporal pathways for contextual learning: Network c- fos mapping in rats with or without perirhinal cortex lesions. Brain Neurosci Adv 2017; 1. [PMID: 28685167 PMCID: PMC5496664 DOI: 10.1177/2398212817694167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: In the rat brain, context information is thought to engage network interactions between the postrhinal cortex, medial entorhinal cortex, and the hippocampus. In contrast, object information is thought to be more reliant on perirhinal cortex and lateral entorhinal cortex interactions with the hippocampus. Method: The ‘context network’ was explored by mapping expression of the immediate-early gene, c-fos, after exposure to a new spatial environment. Results: Structural equation modelling of Fos counts produced networks of good fit that closely matched prior predictions based on anatomically grounded functional models. These same models did not, however, fit the Fos data from home-cage controls nor did they fit the corresponding data from a previous study exploring object recognition. These additional analyses highlight the specificity of the context network. The home-cage controls, meanwhile, showed raised levels of inter-area Fos correlations between the many sites examined, that is, their changes in Fos levels lacked anatomical specificity. A total of two additional groups of rats received perirhinal cortex lesions. While the loss of perirhinal cortex reduced lateral entorhinal c-fos expression, it did not affect mean levels of hippocampal c-fos expression. Similarly, overall c-fos expression in the prelimbic cortex, retrosplenial cortex, and nucleus reuniens of the thalamus appeared unaffected by the perirhinal cortex lesions. Conclusion: The perirhinal cortex lesions disrupted network interactions involving the medial entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus, highlighting ways in which perirhinal cortex might affect specific aspects of context learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Kinnavane
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, 70 Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, Wales, U.K
| | - Eman Amin
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, 70 Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, Wales, U.K
| | | | - John P Aggleton
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, 70 Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, Wales, U.K
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23
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Knox D. The role of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in fear and extinction memory. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2016; 133:39-52. [PMID: 27264248 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2015] [Revised: 05/26/2016] [Accepted: 06/02/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Cholinergic input to the neocortex, dorsal hippocampus (dHipp), and basolateral amygdala (BLA) is critical for neural function and synaptic plasticity in these brain regions. Synaptic plasticity in the neocortex, dHipp, ventral Hipp (vHipp), and BLA has also been implicated in fear and extinction memory. This finding raises the possibility that basal forebrain (BF) cholinergic neurons, the predominant source of acetylcholine in these brain regions, have an important role in mediating fear and extinction memory. While empirical studies support this hypothesis, there are interesting inconsistencies among these studies that raise questions about how best to define the role of BF cholinergic neurons in fear and extinction memory. Nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) cholinergic neurons that project to the BLA are critical for fear memory and contextual fear extinction memory. NBM cholinergic neurons that project to the neocortex are critical for cued and contextual fear conditioned suppression, but are not critical for fear memory in other behavioral paradigms and in the inhibitory avoidance paradigm may even inhibit contextual fear memory formation. Medial septum and diagonal band of Broca cholinergic neurons are critical for contextual fear memory and acquisition of cued fear extinction. Thus, even though the results of previous studies suggest BF cholinergic neurons modulate fear and extinction memory, inconsistent findings among these studies necessitates more research to better define the neural circuits and molecular processes through which BF cholinergic neurons modulate fear and extinction memory. Furthermore, studies determining if BF cholinergic neurons can be manipulated in such a manner so as to treat excessive fear in anxiety disorders are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dayan Knox
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Behavioral Neuroscience Program, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States.
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24
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Agster KL, Tomás Pereira I, Saddoris MP, Burwell RD. Subcortical connections of the perirhinal, postrhinal, and entorhinal cortices of the rat. II. efferents. Hippocampus 2016; 26:1213-30. [PMID: 27101786 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.22600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/07/2016] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
This is the second of two studies detailing the subcortical connections of the perirhinal (PER), the postrhinal (POR) and entorhinal (EC) cortices of the rat. In the present study, we analyzed the subcortical efferents of the rat PER areas 35 and 36, POR, and the lateral and medial entorhinal areas (LEA and MEA). Anterograde tracers were injected into these five regions, and the resulting density of fiber labeling was quantified in an extensive set of subcortical structures. Density and topography of fiber labeling were quantitatively assessed in 36 subcortical areas, including olfactory structures, claustrum, amygdala nuclei, septal nuclei, basal ganglia, thalamic nuclei, and hypothalamic structures. In addition to reporting the density of labeled fibers, we incorporated a new method for quantifying the size of anterograde projections that takes into account the volume of the target subcortical structure as well as the density of fiber labeling. The PER, POR, and EC displayed unique patterns of projections to subcortical areas. Interestingly, all regions examined provided strong input to the basal ganglia, although the projections arising in the PER and LEA were stronger and more widespread. PER areas 35 and 36 exhibited similar pattern of projections with some differences. PER area 36 projects more heavily to the lateral amygdala and much more heavily to thalamic nuclei including the lateral posterior nucleus, the posterior complex, and the nucleus reuniens. Area 35 projects more heavily to olfactory structures. The LEA provides the strongest and most widespread projections to subcortical structures including all those targeted by the PER as well as the medial and posterior septal nuclei. POR shows fewer subcortical projections overall, but contributes substantial input to the lateral posterior nucleus of the thalamus. The MEA projections are even weaker. Our results suggest that the PER and LEA have greater influence over olfactory, amygdala, and septal nuclei, whereas PER area 36 and the POR have greater influence over thalamic nuclei. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kara L Agster
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
| | - Inês Tomás Pereira
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
| | - Michael P Saddoris
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
| | - Rebecca D Burwell
- Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.,Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
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Ramos JMJ. Perirhinal cortex supports tactual discrimination tasks with increasing levels of complexity: Retrograde effect. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2016; 131:121-30. [PMID: 27021016 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2016.03.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2015] [Revised: 03/19/2016] [Accepted: 03/25/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies have suggested that the perirhinal cortex (Prh) supports representations of feature conjunctions in the visual modality during the acquisition/encoding of complex discriminations. To extend this idea to other sensory modalities and to another stage of the discrimination process, we studied the effect of Prh lesions on the expression of a series of tactual discrimination tasks learned preoperatively. These tasks differed from one another in the degree of feature overlap of the stimuli and in the difficulty of the task. During pre- and post-operative testing phases, rats had to discriminate among 3 stimuli simultaneously exposed in 3 arms of a 4-arm plus-shaped maze. Prh-damaged rats showed a profound impairment in the expression of tactual discrimination tasks when the stimuli had a high or intermediate degree of feature ambiguity, but not when they had a low degree of ambiguity (experiments 1a-1c). In order to experimentally dissociate between subregions within the medial temporal lobe, experiment 2 was conducted to show that hippocampal lesions did not cause any impairment in task expression even when the stimuli had a high degree of feature ambiguity. When the tactual discrimination tasks used simple/individual nonoverlapping features of the stimuli (size), Prh lesions did not affect the expression of these discriminations despite the high level of difficulty of these tasks (experiments 3a and 3b). These findings suggest that, in the somatosensory modality, the Prh plays an essential role in the processing of complex stimuli with overlapping features but not in simple tactual discriminations. Furthermore, the Prh is necessary not just during acquisition but also during expression/performance of the discrimination task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan M J Ramos
- Department of Psychobiology, University of Granada, Granada 18071, Spain; Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada 18071, Spain.
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Jones ME, Lebonville CL, Barrus D, Lysle DT. The role of brain interleukin-1 in stress-enhanced fear learning. Neuropsychopharmacology 2015; 40:1289-96. [PMID: 25430780 PMCID: PMC4367475 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2014.317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2014] [Revised: 10/27/2014] [Accepted: 11/21/2014] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been shown to be associated with pro-inflammatory markers, including elevated plasma levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β). However, the precise role of neuroinflammation and central immune signaling on the development of this debilitating psychological disorder is not known. Here, we used stress-enhanced fear learning (SEFL), an animal model of the disorder, to examine the role of central IL-1β in PTSD. The results show that the severe stressor in SEFL induces a time-dependent increase in IL-1β immunoreactivity and mRNA expression within the dentate gyrus of the dorsal hippocampus (DH). There was no increase in IL-1β in the basolateral amygdala or the perirhinal cortex. Moreover, blocking the action of IL-1β following the severe stressor with IL-1 receptor antagonist (10 μg, intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.), 24 and 48 h after the stressor) prevented the development of SEFL. To provide further support for the role of IL-1β in the development of SEFL, we show that systemic morphine, a treatment which is known to reduce both PTSD and SEFL, also reduces IL-1β expression in the DH induced by the severe stressor. These studies provide the first evidence that IL-1 is involved SEFL and suggest that IL-1 signaling in the brain may have a critical role in the development of PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meghan E Jones
- Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC USA
| | - Christina L Lebonville
- Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC USA
| | - Daniel Barrus
- Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC USA
| | - Donald T Lysle
- Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC USA,Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 235 E Cameron Ave, Davie Hall, CB 3270, Chapel Hill 27599-3270, NC, USA, Tel: +1 919 9624149, Fax: +1 919 962 2537, E-mail:
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27
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Affiliation(s)
- Wendy A. Suzuki
- Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY 10003;
| | - Yuji Naya
- Department of Psychology, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences and PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
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Díaz-Mataix L, Tallot L, Doyère V. The amygdala: A potential player in timing CS–US intervals. Behav Processes 2014; 101:112-22. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2013.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2013] [Revised: 07/15/2013] [Accepted: 08/06/2013] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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Raybuck JD, Lattal KM. Bridging the interval: theory and neurobiology of trace conditioning. Behav Processes 2014; 101:103-11. [PMID: 24036411 PMCID: PMC3943893 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2013.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2013] [Revised: 07/25/2013] [Accepted: 08/09/2013] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
An early finding in the behavioral analysis of learning was that conditioned responding weakens as the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) are separated in time. This "trace" conditioning effect has been the focus of years of research in associative learning. Theoretical accounts of trace conditioning have focused on mechanisms that allow associative learning to occur across long intervals between the CS and US. These accounts have emphasized degraded contingency effects, timing mechanisms, and inhibitory learning. More recently, study of the neurobiology of trace conditioning has shown that even a short interval between the CS and US alters the circuitry recruited for learning. Here, we review some of the theoretical and neurobiological mechanisms underlying trace conditioning with an emphasis on recent studies of trace fear conditioning. Findings across many studies have implications not just for how we think about time and conditioning, but also for how we conceptualize fear conditioning in general, suggesting that circuitry beyond the usual suspects needs to be incorporated into current thinking about fear, learning, and anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan D Raybuck
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, United States.
| | - K Matthew Lattal
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, United States.
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Schulz-Klaus B, Lessmann V, Endres T. BDNF-dependent consolidation of fear memories in the perirhinal cortex. Front Behav Neurosci 2013; 7:205. [PMID: 24381548 PMCID: PMC3865772 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2013] [Accepted: 12/02/2013] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
In the recent years the perirhinal cortex (PRh) has been identified as a crucial brain area in fear learning. Since the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important mediator of synaptic plasticity and also crucially involved in memory consolidation of several learning paradigms, we analyzed now whether fear conditioning influences the expression of BDNF protein in the PRh. Here we observed a specific increase of BDNF protein 120 min after fear conditioning training. In order to test whether this increase of BDNF protein level is also required for the consolidation of the fear memory, we locally applied the Trk receptor inhibitor k252a into the PRh during this time window in a second series of experiments. By interfering with Trk-signaling during this critical time window, the formation of a long-term fear memory was completely blocked, indicated by a complete lack of fear potentiated startle 1 day later. In conclusion the present study further emphasizes the important role of the PRh in cued fear learning and identified BDNF as an important mediator for fear memory consolidation in the PRh.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Volkmar Lessmann
- Medizinische Fakultät, Institut für Physiologie, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg Magdeburg, Germany ; Center for Behavioral Brain Research (CBBS), Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Endres
- Medizinische Fakultät, Institut für Physiologie, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg Magdeburg, Germany
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Burke SN, Maurer AP, Hartzell AL, Nematollahi S, Uprety A, Wallace JL, Barnes CA. Representation of three-dimensional objects by the rat perirhinal cortex. Hippocampus 2013; 22:2032-44. [PMID: 22987680 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.22060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The perirhinal cortex (PRC) is known to play an important role in object recognition. Little is known, however, regarding the activity of PRC neurons during the presentation of stimuli that are commonly used for recognition memory tasks in rodents, that is, three-dimensional objects. Rats in the present study were exposed to three-dimensional objects while they traversed a circular track for food reward. Under some behavioral conditions, the track contained novel objects, familiar objects, or no objects. Approximately 38% of PRC neurons demonstrated "object fields" (a selective increase in firing at the location of one or more objects). Although the rats spent more time exploring the objects when they were novel compared to familiar, indicating successful recognition memory, the proportion of object fields and the firing rates of PRC neurons were not affected by the rats' previous experience with the objects. Together, these data indicate that the activity of PRC cells is powerfully affected by the presence of objects while animals navigate through an environment; but under these conditions, the firing patterns are not altered by the relative novelty of objects during successful object recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- S N Burke
- Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
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Murray BD, Kensinger EA. A review of the neural and behavioral consequences for unitizing emotional and neutral information. Front Behav Neurosci 2013; 7:42. [PMID: 23750129 PMCID: PMC3664359 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2013] [Accepted: 04/23/2013] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
A special type of association, called a “unitization,” is formed when pieces of information are encoded as a single representation in memory (e.g., “shirt” and “blue” are encoded as a “blue shirt”; Graf and Schacter, 1989) and typically are later reactivated in memory as a single unit, allowing access to the features of multiple related stimuli at once (Bader et al., 2010; Diana et al., 2011). This review examines the neural processes supporting memory for unitizations and how the emotional content of the material may influence unitization. Although associative binding is typically reliant on hippocampal processes and supported by recollection, the first part of this review will present evidence to suggest that when two items are unitized into a single representation, memory for those bound items may be accomplished on the basis of familiarity and without reliance on the hippocampus. The second part of this review discusses how emotion may affect the processes that give rise to unitizations. Emotional information typically receives a mnemonic benefit over neutral information, but the literature is mixed on whether the presence of emotional information impedes or enhances the associative binding of neutral information (reviewed by Mather, 2007). It has been suggested that the way the emotional and neutral details are related together may be critical to whether the neutral details are enhanced or impeded (Mather, 2007; Mather and Sutherland, 2011). We focus on whether emotional arousal aids or inhibits the creation of a unitized representation, presenting preliminary data, and future directions to test empirically the effects of forming and retrieving emotional and neutral unitizations.
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Burke SN, Hartzell AL, Lister JP, Hoang LT, Barnes CA. Layer V perirhinal cortical ensemble activity during object exploration: a comparison between young and aged rats. Hippocampus 2012; 22:2080-93. [PMID: 22987683 PMCID: PMC3523702 DOI: 10.1002/hipo.22066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Object recognition memory requires the perirhinal cortex (PRC) and this cognitive function declines during normal aging. Recent electrophysiological recordings from young rats have shown that neurons in Layer V of the PRC are activated by three-dimensional objects. Thus, it is possible that age-related object recognition deficits result from alterations in PRC neuron activity in older animals. To examine this, the present study used cellular compartment analysis of temporal activity by fluorescence in situ hybridization (catFISH) with confocal microscopy to monitor cellular distributions of activity-induced Arc RNA in layer V of the PRC. Activity was monitored during two distinct epochs of object exploration. In one group of rats (6 young/6 aged) animals were placed in a familiar testing arena and allowed to explore five different three-dimensional objects for two 5-min sessions separated by a 20-min rest (AA). The second group of animals (6 young/6 aged) also explored the same objects for two 5-min sessions, but the environment was changed between the first and the second epoch (AB). Behavioral data showed that both age groups spent less time exploring objects during the second epoch, even when the environment changed, indicating successful recognition. Although the proportion of active neurons between epochs did not change in the AA group, in the AB group more neurons were active during epoch 2 of object exploration. This recruitment of neurons into the active neural ensemble could serve to signal that familiar stimuli are being encountered in a new context. When numbers of Arc positive neurons were compared between age groups, the old rats had significantly lower proportions of Arc-positive PRC neurons in both the AA and AB behavioral conditions. These data support the hypothesis that age-associated functional alterations in the PRC contribute to declines in stimulus recognition over the lifespan.
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Affiliation(s)
- S N Burke
- Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA
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Baysinger AN, Kent BA, Brown TH. Muscarinic receptors in amygdala control trace fear conditioning. PLoS One 2012; 7:e45720. [PMID: 23029199 PMCID: PMC3448705 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2012] [Accepted: 08/24/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Intelligent behavior requires transient memory, which entails the ability to retain information over short time periods. A newly-emerging hypothesis posits that endogenous persistent firing (EPF) is the neurophysiological foundation for aspects or types of transient memory. EPF is enabled by the activation of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) and is triggered by suprathreshold stimulation. EPF occurs in several brain regions, including the lateral amygdala (LA). The present study examined the role of amygdalar mAChRs in trace fear conditioning, a paradigm that requires transient memory. If mAChR-dependent EPF selectively supports transient memory, then blocking amygdalar mAChRs should impair trace conditioning, while sparing delay and context conditioning, which presumably do not rely upon transient memory. To test the EPF hypothesis, LA was bilaterally infused, prior to trace or delay conditioning, with either a mAChR antagonist (scopolamine) or saline. Computerized video analysis quantified the amount of freezing elicited by the cue and by the training context. Scopolamine infusion profoundly reduced freezing in the trace conditioning group but had no significant effect on delay or context conditioning. This pattern of results was uniquely anticipated by the EPF hypothesis. The present findings are discussed in terms of a systems-level theory of how EPF in LA and several other brain regions might help support trace fear conditioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amber N. Baysinger
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Brianne A. Kent
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Thomas H. Brown
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
- * E-mail: .
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