title: Stimulation of the basolateral amygdala improves the acquisition of a motor skill.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We have previously shown that the stimulation of limbic structures related to affective life such as the amygdale can improve and reinforce neural plastic processes related to hippocampus-dependent forms of explicit memory, as spatial memory and LTP. We now assessed whether this effect is restricted to the mentioned structure and memory type, or represents a more general form of modulatory influence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Young, male Sprague Dawley rats were implanted stereotactically with one electrode in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and trained to acquire a motor skill using their right anterior limb. A group of animals received 3 trains of 15 impulses at the BLA 15 minutes after each daily training session. A second group of implanted animals was handled in the same way, but not stimulated, while a third group was not implanted. After reaching the training criterion the left motor cortex was mapped by the observation of the movements induced by stimuli applied in discrete points of the cortex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cortical representation of the anterior limb was increased in all trained animals, showing that the motor cortex is involved in the acquisition of the new skill. Animals receiving stimulation of the BLA showed similar cortical changes, but learned faster than non-stimulated controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Reinforcement of neural plasticity by the activation of the amygdala is not restricted to hippocampus-dependent explicit memory, but it might represent a universal mechanism to modulate plasticity.
authors.affiliation: Centro Internacional de Restauración Neurológica (CIREN), La Habana, Cuba. jorge.bergado@infomed.sld.cu
authors.forename: Jorge A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bergado
authors.forename: Yeneissy
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rojas
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Capdevila
authors.forename: Odalys
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Almaguer-Melian
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000528:radiation effects*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D004566:Electrodes; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley