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Integration of Parallel Opposing Memories Underlies Memory Extinction.
Johannes Felsenberg1, Pedro F Jacob1, Thomas Walker1
1Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, The University of Oxford, Tinsley Building, Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3SR, UK.
Cell
|September 25, 2018
Summary
Flies remember the omission of punishment as a positive experience, requiring specific dopaminergic neurons for memory extinction. This process integrates conflicting memories within mushroom body output neurons to guide behavior.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Animal Behavior
- Memory Research
Background:
- Animals learn from sequential experiences, integrating supporting and conflicting evidence.
- Memory extinction, suppressing fear responses by experiencing predictive cues without punishment, occurs in various species.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying memory extinction in Drosophila.
- To determine if the omission of punishment is remembered as a positive experience.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Drosophila as a model organism.
- Employed functional imaging to observe neural activity (calcium traces) in the mushroom body output neuron network.
- Applied light and ultrastructural anatomy to study neuronal connections.
Main Results:
- Identified specific dopaminergic neurons crucial for aversive memory extinction.
- Observed co-existing intracellular calcium traces for both aversive and appetitive extinction memories within the same neuron network.
- Demonstrated that extinction-evoked plasticity in specific neurons neutralizes previously established odor responses.
Conclusions:
- Drosophila remembers the omission of punishment as a positive experience.
- Parallel competing memories are integrated within mushroom body output neurons.
- Flies track the accuracy of learned expectations by accumulating and integrating memories of conflicting events.
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