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The postsubiculum and spatial learning: the role of postsubicular synaptic activity and synaptic plasticity in hippocampal place cell, object, and object-location memory.
- Source :
-
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience [J Neurosci] 2013 Apr 17; Vol. 33 (16), pp. 6928-43. - Publication Year :
- 2013
-
Abstract
- Visual landmarks exert stimulus control over spatial behavior and the spatially tuned firing of place, head-direction, and grid cells in the rodent. However, the neural site of convergence for representations of landmarks and representations of space has yet to be identified. A potential site of plasticity underlying associations with landmarks is the postsubiculum. To test this, we blocked glutamatergic transmission in the rat postsubiculum with CNQX, or NMDA receptor-dependent plasticity with d-AP5. These infusions were sufficient to block evoked potentials from the lateral dorsal thalamus and long-term depression following tetanization of this input to the postsubiculum, respectively. In a second experiment, CNQX disrupted the stability of rat hippocampal place cell fields in a familiar environment. In a novel environment, blockade of plasticity with d-AP5 in the postsubiculum did not block the formation of a stable place field map following a 6 h delay. In a final behavioral experiment, postsubicular infusions of both compounds blocked object-location memory in the rat, but did not affect object recognition memory. These results suggest that the postsubiculum is necessary for the recognition of familiar environments, and that NMDA receptor-dependent plasticity in the postsubiculum is required for the formation of new object-place associations that support recognition memory. However, plasticity in the postsubiculum is not necessary for the formation of new spatial maps.
- Subjects :
- 2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate pharmacology
6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione pharmacology
Action Potentials drug effects
Action Potentials physiology
Animals
Conditioning, Operant drug effects
Conditioning, Operant physiology
Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists pharmacology
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials drug effects
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials physiology
Exploratory Behavior drug effects
Hippocampus drug effects
Male
Neural Pathways drug effects
Neural Pathways physiology
Neuronal Plasticity drug effects
Neurons drug effects
Photic Stimulation
Rats
Recognition, Psychology
Spatial Behavior drug effects
Visual Perception drug effects
Visual Perception physiology
Hippocampus cytology
Hippocampus physiology
Learning physiology
Neuronal Plasticity physiology
Neurons physiology
Spatial Behavior physiology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1529-2401
- Volume :
- 33
- Issue :
- 16
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 23595751
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5476-12.2013