title: Primary auditory cortex regulates threat memory specificity.
abstract: Distinguishing threatening from nonthreatening stimuli is essential for survival and stimulus generalization is a hallmark of anxiety disorders. While auditory threat learning produces long-lasting plasticity in primary auditory cortex (Au1), it is not clear whether such Au1 plasticity regulates memory specificity or generalization. We used muscimol infusions in rats to show that discriminatory threat learning requires Au1 activity specifically during memory acquisition and retrieval, but not during consolidation. Memory specificity was similarly disrupted by infusion of PKMζ inhibitor peptide (ZIP) during memory storage. Our findings show that Au1 is required at critical memory phases and suggest that Au1 plasticity enables stimulus discrimination.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA m.b.wigestrand@ibv.uio.no.|Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Oslo, 0371 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Mattis B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Wigestrand
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Hillary C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Schiff
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Oslo, 0371 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fyhn
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA.|Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York 10962, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: LeDoux
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA.|Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York 10962, USA.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Sears
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D005239:Fear / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009118:Muscimol / Q000494:pharmacology; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D058785:GABA-A Receptor Agonists; D009118:Muscimol; D011493:Protein Kinase C