Opposite monosynaptic scaling of BLP–vCA1 inputs governs hopefulness- and helplessness-modulated spatial learning and memory

Abstract

Different emotional states lead to distinct behavioural consequences even when faced with the same challenging events. Emotions affect learning and memory capacities, but the underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain elusive. Here we establish models of learned helplessness (LHL) and learned hopefulness (LHF) by exposing animals to inescapable foot shocks or with anticipated avoidance trainings. The LHF animals show spatial memory potentiation with excitatory monosynaptic upscaling between posterior basolateral amygdale (BLP) and ventral hippocampal CA1 (vCA1), whereas the LHL show memory deficits with an attenuated BLP–vCA1 connection. Optogenetic disruption of BLP–vCA1 inputs abolishes the effects of LHF and impairs synaptic plasticity. By contrast, targeted BLP–vCA1 stimulation rescues the LHL-induced memory deficits and mimics the effects of LHF. BLP–vCA1 stimulation increases synaptic transmission and dendritic plasticity with the upregulation of CREB and intrasynaptic AMPA receptors in CA1. These findings indicate that opposite excitatory monosynaptic scaling of BLP–vCA1 controls LHF- and LHL-modulated spatial memory, revealing circuit-specific mechanisms linking emotions to memory.

PGE2‐EP3 signaling exacerbates hippocampus‐dependent cognitive impairment after laparotomy by reducing expression levels of hippocampal synaptic plasticity‐related proteins in aged mice

“…In addition, the function of 1 brain area cannot be isolated. Given that the hippocampus receives numerous afferent fibers from the entorhinal cortex (EC), thalamus, and amygdala, whether fluctuations in hippocampal function in POCD attributes to the adjacent brain regions still remains unknown. Recent advances in optogenetic approaches offer us a new tool for identifying the brain regions and the underlying behaviors .…”

Correcting miR92a-vGAT-Mediated GABAergic Dysfunctions Rescues Human Tau-Induced Anxiety in Mice

“…By our recent findings, 46,75 we believe that the psychiatric disturbance can reciprocally interact with the onset and/or progression of dementia and vice versa. Another most recent study shows that the relationship between dementia stage and expression of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) can be variational according to the type of dementia.…”

Posterior basolateral amygdala to ventral hippocampal CA1 drives approach behaviour to exert an anxiolytic effect

“…The aBLA and vCA1 can orchestrate to modulate anxious states, and monosynaptic excitatory aBLA-vCA1 inputs exert anxiogenic effects by increasing avoidance behaviours 17 . Although projections from the posterior part of BLA (pBLA) to the vCA1 have been recently identified 18 , whether pBLA targets vCA1 in a uniform or distinct pattern, as aBLA does in the aBLA-vCA1 connection, is largely unknown. Considering the functional diversity along the anterior-posterior axis of the BLA 19 and the superficial-deep axis of vCA1 16 , it will be valuable to explore whether and how pBLA-vCA1 connections control approaching or avoiding under conflict situations to modulate anxiety-related behaviour.…”