Synaptic consolidation as a temporally variable process: Uncovering the parameters modulating its time-course.
Mirelle A Casagrande1, Josué Haubrich2, Lizeth K Pedraza1
1Laboratório de Neurobiologia da Memória, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Institute of Health Sciences, 90.046-900, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
|March 9, 2018
Summary
Memory consolidation is dynamic, not static. Stronger training and context familiarity accelerate this process, shortening the window for memory interference.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Behavioral Biology
Background:
- Memory formation requires a stabilization process called consolidation.
- The dynamic nature and modulating factors of memory consolidation remain largely unknown.
- Understanding consolidation is key to understanding memory persistence and susceptibility to interference.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if learning parameters dynamically alter the time-course of memory consolidation.
- To identify factors that modulate the period memory is susceptible to retroactive interference.
- To explore the role of glucocorticoids and contextual familiarity in fear memory consolidation.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the rodent contextual fear conditioning paradigm.
- Compared weak and strong training protocols to assess consolidation time-courses.
- Administered metyrapone to block glucocorticoid effects and assessed post-training hippocampal inactivation.
Main Results:
- Stronger training protocols accelerated memory consolidation, shortening the window of susceptibility to hippocampal inactivation.
- Glucocorticoids mediated the accelerated consolidation observed with strong training.
- Pre-exposure to the training context also accelerated fear memory consolidation.
Conclusions:
- The time-course of memory consolidation is dynamic and influenced by learning intensity and contextual familiarity.
- Learning experiences directly affect the time window during which memories are vulnerable to interference.
- This study provides novel insights into the plasticity of memory consolidation processes.
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