NMDA receptors in the avian amygdala and the premotor arcopallium mediate distinct aspects of appetitive extinction learning

Gao, Meng; Lengersdorf, Daniel; Stüttgen, Maik C.; Güntürkün, Onur

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2018.01.026

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 93 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In birds, lesions of the anterior arcopallium caused a decrease in several defensive behaviours (including tonic immobility [69]), and lesions encompassing most of the arcopallium decreased anxiety in an open field test [70] and prevented the acquisition of passive avoidance learning [71]. Although, to our knowledge, there are no works investigating the role of the arcopallium and adjacent structures in Pavlovian aversive conditioning, recently, classical tone-shock conditioning has been shown to increase the mature form of BDNF in the amygdala of pigeons [72], and blocking NMDA transmission in the caudal nidopallium or parts of the arcopallium (multimodal amygdala, see Table 1) affects extinction in appetitive conditioning [73,74]. Therefore, further research is needed to confirm with functional data in non-mammalian vertebrates the anatomical, neurochemical and developmental evidence of the amygdaloid circuits reviewed above.…”

Section: The Neural Basis Of Risk Avoidance In Vertebratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of vertebrate survival circuits

Martínez‐Garciá

Lanuza

2018

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evolution selects those adaptive features that increase reproductive probabilities and facilitate survival. Analysing the brain circuits mediating risk-avoidance (e.g. defense) and those allowing reward-seeking (motivated) behaviours in different vertebrates leads to several main conclusions. First, circuits mediating risk-avoidance are similar in all studied vertebrates, where they include amygdala homologues located in the posterior half of the cerebral hemispheres, in close relationship with the chemosensory systems. Second, in all vertebrates, reward-seeking behaviours involve the activity of tegmento-striatal dopaminergic pathways, plus other inputs to the ventral striatum, including amygdalostriatal glutamatergic projections. Third, output structures in these forebrain circuits for both risk-avoidance and reward-seeking behaviours occupy the caudal and rostral poles of the ventral striato-pallidum, namely the central amygdala and nucleus accumbens-olfactory tubercle respectively. This brain configuration was already present in at least the ancestral amniote, likely also in anamniotes. Finally, social behaviours (sexual, agonistic-territorial, parental) are fundamental for reproduction and survival. Consequently, the so-called socio-sexual brain network that governs these conducts is closely related with brain centres mediating motivation (maybe also risk-avoidance). Central nonapeptidergic circuits are apparently required for endowing social stimuli with rewarding (attractive) properties. More studies in non-mammals are required to further test and expand these ideas.

show abstract

Section: The Neural Basis Of Risk Avoidance In Vertebratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of vertebrate survival circuits

Martínez‐Garciá

Lanuza

2018

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This last structure is the avian analog to the pre/motor cortex. Inhibiting NMDA receptors in the medial striatum or the amygdala impairs extinction learning, while the same procedure impairs consolidation of extinction memory in the arcopallium (Gao et al, 2018(Gao et al, , 2019bLengersdorf et al, 2015).…”

Section: The Avian Neural Circuit For Extinction Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the classic extinction network: a wider, comparative view

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Extinction learning modifies the dynamics of brain circuits such that a previously learned conditioned response is no longer generated. The majority of extinction studies use fear conditioning in rodents and identified the prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus, and the amygdala as core regions of the extinction circuit. We sought to find answers to two questions: First, do we find a similar functional brain circuit in birds, which underwent a 300-million-year separate evolution from mammals? Second, do we have to incorporate the cerebellum as a key component of the central extinction circuit? We indeed show that the avian extinction pathways are not identical but highly similar to those of mammals. In addition, we reveal that the human cerebellum processes prediction errors, a key element driving extinction of learned fear responses, and contributes to context-related effects of extinction.

show abstract

“…Once a purposeful behavior is acquired, the ability to extinguish it as a result of altered reward contingencies is also essential for survival. The importance of this so-called extinction learning is emphasized by the fact that all vertebrate and invertebrate species tested exhibit this ability (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergence of complex dynamics of choice due to repeated exposures to extinction learning

Donoso

Packheiser

Pusch

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Extinction learning, the process of ceasing an acquired behavior in response to altered reinforcement contingencies, is essential for survival in a changing environment. So far, research has mostly neglected the learning dynamics and variability of behavior during extinction learning and instead focused on a few response types that were studied by population averages. Here, we take a different approach by analyzing the trial-by-trial dynamics of operant extinction learning in both pigeons and a computational model. The task involved discriminant operant conditioning in context A, extinction in context B, and a return to context A to test the context-dependent return of the conditioned response (ABA renewal). By studying single learning curves across animals under repeated sessions of this paradigm, we uncovered a rich variability of behavior during extinction learning: (1) Pigeons prefer the unrewarded alternative choice in one-third of the sessions, predominantly during the very first extinction session an animal encountered. (2) In later sessions, abrupt transitions of behavior at the onset of context B emerge, and (3) the renewal effect decays as sessions progress. While these results could be interpreted in terms of rule learning mechanisms, we show that they can be parsimoniously accounted for by a computational model based only on associative learning between stimuli and actions. Our work thus demonstrates the critical importance of studying the trial-by-trial dynamics of learning in individual sessions, and the unexpected power of "simple" associative learning processes. Significance StatementOperant conditioning is essential for the discovery of purposeful actions, but once a stimulus-response association is acquired, the ability to extinguish it in response to altered reward contingencies is equally important. These processes also play a fundamental role in the development and treatment of pathological behaviors such as drug addiction, overeating and gambling. Here we show that extinction learning is not limited to the cessation of a previously reinforced response, but also drives the emergence of complex and variable choices that change from learning session to learning session. At first sight, these behavioral changes appear to reflect abstract rule learning, but we show in a computational model that they can emerge from "simple" associative learning.

show abstract

NMDA receptors in the avian amygdala and the premotor arcopallium mediate distinct aspects of appetitive extinction learning

Cited by 15 publications

References 93 publications

Evolution of vertebrate survival circuits

Evolution of vertebrate survival circuits

Beyond the classic extinction network: a wider, comparative view

Emergence of complex dynamics of choice due to repeated exposures to extinction learning

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About