The basolateral amygdala is necessary for the encoding and the expression of odor memory

Conditioned odor avoidance (COA) results from the association between a novel odor and a delayed visceral illness. The present experiments investigated the role of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in acquisition and retrieval of COA memory. To address this, we used the GABA(A) agonist muscimol to temp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sevelinges, Y., Desgranges, Bertrand
Other Authors: Ferreira, Guillaume
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2009
Subjects:
rattus rattus
homme
odeur
amygdale
neurone
comportement animal
olfaction
mémoire
Rattus rattus
Online Access:http://prodinra.inra.fr/ft/082FB95D-07BC-491D-B2DF-C118F0FD49F5
http://prodinra.inra.fr/record/28262
Description
Summary:Conditioned odor avoidance (COA) results from the association between a novel odor and a delayed visceral illness. The present experiments investigated the role of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in acquisition and retrieval of COA memory. To address this, we used the GABA(A) agonist muscimol to temporarily inactivate the BLA during COA acquisition or expression. BLA inactivation before odor-malaise pairing greatly impaired COA tested 3 d later. In contrast, muscimol microinfusion between odor and malaise spared retention. Moreover, inactivation of the BLA before pre-exposure to the odor prevented latent inhibition of COA. This suggests that neural activity in the BLA is essential for the formation of odor representation. BLA inactivation before the retrieval test also blocked COA memory expression when performed either 3 d (recent memory) or 28 d (remote memory) after acquisition. This effect was transitory as muscimol-treated animals were not different from controls during the subsequent extinction tests. Moreover, muscimol infusion in the BLA neither affected olfactory perception nor avoidance behavior, and it did not induce a state-dependent learning. Altogether, these findings suggest that neural activity in the BLA is required for the encoding and the retrieval of odor memory. Moreover, the BLA seems to play a permanent role in the expression of COA.

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