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The cortical amygdala consolidates a socially transmitted long-term memory
Zhihui Liu1,2, Wenfei Sun3,4, Yi Han Ng3
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA. zhihuil@stanford.edu.
Nature
|July 3, 2024
Summary
Social transmission of food preference (STFP) memory consolidation relies on the posteromedial nucleus of the cortical amygdala (COApm). This brain region integrates social and sensory information, highlighting a specific circuit for long-term memory formation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Molecular Biology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Social communication is vital for decision-making and survival.
- Social transmission of food preference (STFP) is a key memory paradigm involving learning food odors through social interaction.
- Mechanisms of food preference memory acquisition, consolidation, and storage remain largely unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the neural circuits involved in the consolidation of long-term social transmission of food preference (STFP) memory.
- To elucidate the computational role of the posteromedial nucleus of the cortical amygdala (COApm) in memory consolidation.
- To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying STFP memory consolidation.
Main Methods:
- Selective blockade of synaptic signaling in the COApm circuit.
- Analysis of synaptic inputs and outputs of the COApm.
- Assessment of protein synthesis requirement for memory consolidation.
- Deep single-cell and spatially resolved transcriptomics of the COApm.
Main Results:
- The COApm acts as a computational center integrating social and sensory olfactory inputs for STFP memory consolidation.
- Blocking COApm circuit signaling abolished STFP memory consolidation but not acquisition, storage, or recall.
- COApm-mediated consolidation depends on accessory olfactory bulb inputs and anterior olfactory nucleus outputs.
- STFP memory consolidation requires protein synthesis and induces gene expression signatures related to synapse restructuring in the COApm.
Conclusions:
- The posteromedial nucleus of the cortical amygdala (COApm) is crucial for consolidating long-term social transmission of food preference (STFP) memory.
- This study defines a specific neural circuit for memory consolidation, distinguishing it from acquisition, storage, and retrieval.
- Findings reveal a gene-expression mechanism involving protein synthesis and synapse restructuring in the COApm for socially learned long-term memory.
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