title: Medial auditory thalamus is necessary for acquisition and retention of eyeblink conditioning to cochlear nucleus stimulation.
abstract: Associative learning tasks commonly involve an auditory stimulus, which must be projected through the auditory system to the sites of memory induction for learning to occur. The cochlear nucleus (CN) projection to the pontine nuclei has been posited as the necessary auditory pathway for cerebellar learning, including eyeblink conditioning. However, the medial auditory thalamic nuclei (MATN), consisting of the medial division of the medial geniculate, suprageniculate, and posterior interlaminar nucleus have also been implicated as a critical auditory relay to the pontine nuclei for cerebellum-dependent motor learning. The MATN also conveys auditory information to the amygdala necessary for avoidance and fear conditioning. The current study used CN stimulation to increase activity in the pontine nuclei, relative to a tone stimulus, and possibly provide sufficient input to the cerebellum for acquisition or retention of eyeblink conditioning during MATN inactivation. Primary and secondary effects of CN stimulation and MATN inactivation were examined using 2-deoxy-glucose autoradiography. Stimulation of CN increased activity in the pontine nuclei, however, this increase was not sufficient for cerebellar learning during MATN inactivation. Results of the current experiment provide additional evidence indicating the MATN may be the critical auditory relay for many associative learning tasks.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA hunter.halverson@utexas.edu.
authors: Hunter E
authors: HE
authors: Halverson
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA.
authors: Amy
authors: A
authors: Poremba
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA.
authors: John H
authors: JH
authors: Freeman
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D017626:Cochlear Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003215:Conditioning, Eyelid / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D020645:Mediodorsal Thalamic Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009118:Muscimol / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans
chemical_list: D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists; D009118:Muscimol