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Related Experiment Video

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Ex Vivo Optogenetic Dissection of Fear Circuits in Brain Slices

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Published on: April 5, 2016

The basolateral amygdala modulates specific sensory memory representations in the cerebral cortex.

Candice M Chavez¹, James L McGaugh, Norman M Weinberger

¹Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California-Irvine, Qureshey Research Laboratory, Irvine, CA 92697-3800, USA.

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

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Summary

Stimulating the basolateral amygdala (BLA) precisely timed with a conditioned stimulus (CS) can alter auditory cortex neural tuning, enhancing memory representation. This BLA-induced plasticity in the cortex is crucial for strengthening long-term memories.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Memory Research
Auditory Cortex Plasticity

Background:

Stress hormones modulate memory via the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and cerebral cortex.
Behaviorally important stimuli gain increased cortical representation.
Learning shifts neural tuning in the auditory cortex (A1) to conditioned stimuli (CS).

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if BLA stimulation can modify cortical memory representations.
To determine the effect of precise timing between CS and BLA stimulation on cortical plasticity.
To explore the role of the BLA in learning-related modifications of stimulus representation.

Main Methods:

Rats under anesthesia had auditory cortex (A1) receptive fields measured.
A tone (CS) was paired with BLA stimulation (BLAstm) at specific intervals (1s or 1.6s).
Neural tuning shifts in A1 were recorded before and after BLA stimulation.

Main Results:

A 1s CS-BLAstm interval induced specific, enduring tuning shifts in A1 towards the CS frequency, lasting up to 75min.
A 1.6s CS-BLAstm interval did not produce significant tuning shifts.
BLA stimulation outside the BLA region did not induce these cortical tuning changes.

Conclusions:

The BLA can induce specific and enduring modifications in cortical stimulus representation.
Precise timing between CS and BLA stimulation is critical for inducing these changes.
BLA's ability to alter cortical representations likely underlies its role in strengthening long-term memory.