Updating memories--the role of prediction errors in memory reconsolidation

Memories are not static imprints of past experience, but rather are dynamic entities which enable us to predict outcomes of future situations and inform appropriate behaviours. In order to maintain the relevance of existing memories to our daily lives, memories can be updated with new information via a process of reconsolidation. In this review we describe recent experimental advances in the reconsolidation of both appetitive and aversive memory, and explore the neuronal mechanisms that underpin the conditions under which reconsolidation will occur. We propose that a prediction error signal, originating from dopaminergic midbrain neurons, is necessary for destabilisation and subsequent reconsolidation of a memory.