TY - JOUR
T1 - Postsynaptic receptor trafficking underlying a form of associative learning
AU - Rumpel, Simon
AU - LeDoux, Joseph
AU - Zador, Anthony
AU - Malinow, Roberto
PY - 2005/4/1
Y1 - 2005/4/1
N2 - To elucidate molecular, cellular, and circuit changes that occur in the brain during learning, we investigated the role of a glutamate receptor subtype in fear conditioning. In this form of learning, animals associate two stimuli, such as a tone and a shock. Here we report that fear conditioning drives AMPA-type glutamate receptors into the synapse of a large fraction of postsynaptic neurons in the lateral amygdala, a brain structure essential for this learning process. Furthermore, memory was reduced if AMPA receptor synaptic incorporation was blocked in as few as 10 to 20% of lateral amygdala neurons. Thus, the encoding of memories in the lateral amygdala is mediated by AMPA receptor trafficking, is widely distributed, and displays little redundancy.
AB - To elucidate molecular, cellular, and circuit changes that occur in the brain during learning, we investigated the role of a glutamate receptor subtype in fear conditioning. In this form of learning, animals associate two stimuli, such as a tone and a shock. Here we report that fear conditioning drives AMPA-type glutamate receptors into the synapse of a large fraction of postsynaptic neurons in the lateral amygdala, a brain structure essential for this learning process. Furthermore, memory was reduced if AMPA receptor synaptic incorporation was blocked in as few as 10 to 20% of lateral amygdala neurons. Thus, the encoding of memories in the lateral amygdala is mediated by AMPA receptor trafficking, is widely distributed, and displays little redundancy.
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U2 - 10.1126/science.1103944
DO - 10.1126/science.1103944
M3 - Article
C2 - 15746389
AN - SCOPUS:15944411690
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 308
SP - 83
EP - 88
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 5718
ER -