Journal article
Amygdala Modulation of Cerebellar Learning
The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.36(7), pp.2190-2201
02/17/2016
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3361-15.2016
PMCID: PMC4756154
PMID: 26888929
Abstract
Previous studies showed that amygdala lesions or inactivation slow the acquisition rate of cerebellum-dependent eyeblink conditioning, a type of associative motor learning. The current study was designed to determine the behavioral nature of amygdala-cerebellum interactions, to identify the neural pathways underlying amygdala-cerebellum interactions, and to examine how the amygdala influences cerebellar learning mechanisms in rats. Pharmacological inactivation of the central amygdala (CeA) severely impaired acquisition and retention of eyeblink conditioning, indicating that the amygdala continues to interact with the cerebellum after conditioning is consolidated (Experiment 1). CeA inactivation also substantially reduced stimulus-evoked and learning-related neuronal activity in the cerebellar anterior interpositus nucleus during acquisition and retention of eyeblink conditioning (Experiment 2). A very small proportion of cerebellar neurons responded to the conditioned stimulus (CS) during CeA inactivation. Finally, retrograde and anterograde tracing experiments identified the basilar pontine nucleus at the confluence of outputs from CeA that may support amygdala modulation of CS input to the cerebellum (Experiment 3). Together, these results highlight a role for the CeA in the gating of CS-related input to the cerebellum during motor learning that is maintained even after the conditioned response is well learned.
The current study is the first to demonstrate that the amygdala modulates sensory-evoked and learning-related neuronal activity within the cerebellum during acquisition and retention of associative learning. The findings suggest a model of amygdala-cerebellum interactions in which the amygdala gates conditioned stimulus inputs to the cerebellum through a direct projection from the medial central nucleus to the basilar pontine nucleus. Amygdala gating of sensory input to the cerebellum may be an attention-like mechanism that facilitates cerebellar learning. In contrast to previous theories of amygdala-cerebellum interactions, the sensory gating hypothesis posits that the gating mechanism continues to be necessary for retrieval of cerebellar memory after learning is well established.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Amygdala Modulation of Cerebellar Learning
- Creators
- Sean J Farley - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242Jason J Radley - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242John H Freeman - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 john-freeman@uiowa.edu
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.36(7), pp.2190-2201
- Publisher
- United States
- DOI
- 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3361-15.2016
- PMID
- 26888929
- PMCID
- PMC4756154
- ISSN
- 0270-6474
- eISSN
- 1529-2401
- Grant note
- R01 MH095972 / NIMH NIH HHS MH095972 / NIMH NIH HHS R01 NS088567 / NINDS NIH HHS NS088567 / NINDS NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/17/2016
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984065755502771
Metrics
26 Record Views