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Central amygdala contributes to stimulus facilitation and pre-stimulus vigilance during cerebellar learning
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Central amygdala contributes to stimulus facilitation and pre-stimulus vigilance during cerebellar learning

Sean J Farley and John H Freeman
Neurobiology of learning and memory, Vol.211, 107925
05/2024
DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2024.107925
PMCID: PMC11078604
PMID: 38579895
url
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11078604/pdf/nihms-1986951.pdfView
Open Access

Abstract

Our previous studies found that the central amygdala (CeA) modulates cerebellum-dependent eyeblink conditioning (EBC) using muscimol inactivation. We also found that CeA inactivation decreases cerebellar neuronal activity during the conditional stimulus (CS) from the start of training. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that the CeA facilitates CS input to the cerebellum. The current study tested the CS facilitation hypothesis using optogenetic inhibition with archaerhodopsin (Arch) and excitation with channelrhodopsin (ChR2) of the CeA during EBC in male rats. Optogenetic manipulations were administered during the 400 ms tone CS or during a 400 ms pre-CS period. As predicted by the CS facilitation hypothesis CeA inhibition during the CS impaired EBC and CeA excitation during the CS facilitated EBC. Unexpectedly, CeA inhibition just prior to the CS also impaired EBC, while CeA excitation during the pre-CS pathway did not facilitate EBC. The results suggest that the CeA contributes to CS facilitation and vigilance during the pre-CS period. These putative functions of the CeA may be mediated through separate output pathways from the CeA to the cerebellum.

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