Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 4, 2026
19:57
The Use of Trace Eyeblink Classical Conditioning to Assess Hippocampal Dysfunction in a Rat Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Published on: August 5, 2017
9.3K
Unilateral lateral entorhinal inactivation impairs memory expression in trace eyeblink conditioning
Stephanie E Tanninen1, Mark D Morrissey1, Kaori Takehara-Nishiuchi2
1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ; Program in Neuroscience, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Plos One
|December 25, 2013
Summary
The lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) is crucial for expressing memories, regardless of whether they are recent or remote. Inactivating the LEC in both brain hemispheres significantly impairs memory recall in rats.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Systems Neuroscience
Background:
- Memory consolidation involves a network including the hippocampus (HPC), neocortex, and cerebellum.
- This network shifts from HPC to medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) after learning.
- The lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) is consistently involved in both recent and remote memory expression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the functional interaction between the LEC and mPFC in remote memory expression.
- To determine the necessity of LEC and mPFC integrity for memory recall.
Main Methods:
- Pharmacological inactivation of the LEC in one hemisphere and the mPFC in the contralateral hemisphere in rats.
- Assessment of memory expression at one day and one month post-learning.
Main Results:
- Combined LEC-mPFC inactivation significantly impaired memory expression at both time points.
- Unilateral LEC inactivation caused comparable impairment to combined inactivation.
- Unilateral mPFC inactivation had no significant effect on memory expression.
Conclusions:
- The integrity of the LEC in both hemispheres is essential for memory expression.
- The study design did not reveal functional interactions between LEC and mPFC.
- Further investigation with alternative experimental designs is needed to explore LEC-mPFC interactions.
