title: Neural Representations of Unconditioned Stimuli in Basolateral Amygdala Mediate Innate and Learned Responses.
abstract: Stimuli that possess inherently rewarding or aversive qualities elicit emotional responses and also induce learning by imparting valence upon neutral sensory cues. Evidence has accumulated implicating the amygdala as a critical structure in mediating these processes. We have developed a genetic strategy to identify the representations of rewarding and aversive unconditioned stimuli (USs) in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and have examined their role in innate and learned responses. Activation of an ensemble of US-responsive cells in the BLA elicits innate physiological and behavioral responses of different valence. Activation of this US ensemble can also reinforce appetitive and aversive learning when paired with differing neutral stimuli. Moreover, we establish that the activation of US-responsive cells in the BLA is necessary for the expression of a conditioned response. Neural representations of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli therefore ultimately connect to US-responsive cells in the BLA to elicit both innate and learned responses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Felicity
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gore
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Edmund C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Baylor C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Brangers
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aladi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Stujenske
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Likhtik
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Marco J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address: cds2005@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: C Daniel
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Salzman
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address: ra27@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Axel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D066272:Basolateral Nuclear Complex / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012201:Reward