Odor fear learning in rats: dialogue between limbic and cortical areas

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Odor fear learning in rats: dialogue between limbic and cortical areas Anne-Marie Mouly1*, Yannick Sevelinges1, Stephanie Moriceau2, Charlis Raineki2 and Regina M. Sullivan2 1 CNRS-Universite Lyon, Lab Neurosciences Sensorielles, France 2 New York University School of Medicine, Nathan Kline Institute and Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, United States Pavlovian fear conditioning is a widely used paradigm for studying the neurobiology of emotional memory. It consists of pairing an initially neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus, CS) with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US). Subsequent re-exposure to the CS induces a learned fear response. Our recent work investigated the neural circuit involved in olfactory fear conditioning in rats. Indeed olfaction plays a dominant role in the control of rodents behavior and anatomical data suggest that olfactory information has a unique direct access to both the olfactory cortex and the amygdala, with no thalamic relay. Using olfactory cues as CS in fear conditioning therefore permits the testing of the generality of the current neural models of learning and memory, which are mainly based on auditory stimuli. In addition, it provides a particularly relevant model for identifying the relative contribution of sensory cortices and amygdalar nuclei to memory processes. We will first address the question of the neural network involved in odor fear conditioning in adult rats. Using both evoked field potential recordings and high temporal resolution microdialysis (1-min sampling rate) on freely-moving rats we investigated the synaptic and neurochemical changes occurring during learning. We showed that cortical (CoA) and basolateral (BLA) nuclei of the amygdala as well as posterior piriform cortex (pPC) are involved in the learning while anterior piriform cortex (aPC) is not. We will then illustrate the long term consequences of an early life odor-shock conditioning on adult learning. We showed that early life experience attenuates adult fear learning and has enduring consequences on a rather wide network of structures from the olfactory bulb to the olfactory cortices (pPCx, CoA) and the BLA. Taken together these data underline the interest of olfaction for studying emotional memory circuits and more specifically investigate the interactions between cortical and limbic areas. Conference: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting, Rhodes Island, Greece, 13 Sep - 18 Sep, 2009. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Symposia lectures Citation: Mouly A, Sevelinges Y, Moriceau S, Raineki C and Sullivan RM (2009). Odor fear learning in rats: dialogue between limbic and cortical areas. Conference Abstract: 41st European Brain and Behaviour Society Meeting. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.08.2009.09.040 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 04 Jun 2009; Published Online: 04 Jun 2009. * Correspondence: Anne-Marie Mouly, CNRS-Universite Lyon, Lab Neurosciences Sensorielles, Lyon, France, ammouly@olfac.univ-lyon1.fr Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Anne-Marie Mouly Yannick Sevelinges Stephanie Moriceau Charlis Raineki Regina M Sullivan Google Anne-Marie Mouly Yannick Sevelinges Stephanie Moriceau Charlis Raineki Regina M Sullivan Google Scholar Anne-Marie Mouly Yannick Sevelinges Stephanie Moriceau Charlis Raineki Regina M Sullivan PubMed Anne-Marie Mouly Yannick Sevelinges Stephanie Moriceau Charlis Raineki Regina M Sullivan Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.