QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, June 14, 2006, 26(24):6458-6468; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0707-06.2006

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (16) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Laviolette, S. R. Articles by Grace, A. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Laviolette, S. R. Articles by Grace, A. A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Cannabinoids Potentiate Emotional Learning Plasticity in Neurons of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex through Basolateral Amygdala Inputs

Steven R. Laviolette¹ and Anthony A. Grace^1,2,3

¹Departments of Neuroscience, ²Psychiatry, and ³Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Anthony A. Grace, Department of Neuroscience, 458 Crawford Hall, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Email: Grace{at}bns.pitt.edu

Cannabinoids represent one of the most commonly used hallucinogenic drug classes. In addition, cannabis use is a primary risk factor for schizophrenia in susceptible individuals and can potently modulate the emotional salience of sensory stimuli. We report that systemic activation or blockade of cannabinoid CB1 receptors modulates emotional associative learning and memory formation in a subpopulation of neurons in the mammalian medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) that receives functional input from the basolateral amygdala (BLA). Using in vivo single-unit recordings in rats, we found that a CB1 receptor agonist potentiated the response of medial prefrontal cortical neurons to olfactory cues paired previously with a footshock, whereas this associative responding was prevented by a CB1 receptor antagonist. In an olfactory fear-conditioning procedure, CB1 agonist microinfusions into the mPFC enabled behavioral responses to olfactory cues paired with normally subthreshold footshock, whereas the antagonist completely blocked emotional learning. These results are the first demonstration that cannabinoid signaling in the mPFC can modulate the magnitude of neuronal emotional learning plasticity and memory formation through functional inputs from the BLA.

Key words: cannabinoids; prefrontal cortex; amygdala; emotional learning; electrophysiology; extracellular recordings

---

Received Dec. 10, 2005; revised May 4, 2006; accepted May 4, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Anthony A. Grace, Department of Neuroscience, 458 Crawford Hall, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Email: Grace{at}bns.pitt.edu

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. Tan, N. M. Lauzon, S. F. Bishop, M. A. Bechard, and S. R. Laviolette Integrated Cannabinoid CB1 Receptor Transmission within the Amygdala-Prefrontal Cortical Pathway Modulates Neuronal Plasticity and Emotional Memory Encoding Cereb Cortex, October 30, 2009; (2009) bhp210v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. M. Lauzon, S. F. Bishop, and S. R. Laviolette Dopamine D1 versus D4 Receptors Differentially Modulate the Encoding of Salient versus Nonsalient Emotional Information in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex J. Neurosci., April 15, 2009; 29(15): 4836 - 4845. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H.-C. Lin, S.-C. Mao, C.-L. Su, and P.-W. Gean The Role of Prefrontal Cortex CB1 Receptors in the Modulation of Fear Memory Cereb Cortex, January 1, 2009; 19(1): 165 - 175. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H.-C. Lin, S.-C. Mao, P.-S. Chen, and P.-W. Gean Chronic cannabinoid administration in vivo compromises extinction of fear memory Learn. Mem., December 2, 2008; 15(12): 876 - 884. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Belujon and A. A. Grace Critical Role of the Prefrontal Cortex in the Regulation of Hippocampus-Accumbens Information Flow J. Neurosci., September 24, 2008; 28(39): 9797 - 9805. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. B. McGinty and A. A. Grace Selective Activation of Medial Prefrontal-to-Accumbens Projection Neurons by Amygdala Stimulation and Pavlovian Conditioned Stimuli Cereb Cortex, August 1, 2008; 18(8): 1961 - 1972. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Rubino, N. Realini, C. Castiglioni, C. Guidali, D. Vigano, E. Marras, S. Petrosino, G. Perletti, M. Maccarrone, V. Di Marzo, et al. Role in Anxiety Behavior of the Endocannabinoid System in the Prefrontal Cortex Cereb Cortex, June 1, 2008; 18(6): 1292 - 1301. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. L. Phan, M. Angstadt, J. Golden, I. Onyewuenyi, A. Popovska, and H. de Wit Cannabinoid Modulation of Amygdala Reactivity to Social Signals of Threat in Humans J. Neurosci., March 5, 2008; 28(10): 2313 - 2319. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. R. Laviolette Dopamine Modulation of Emotional Processing in Cortical and Subcortical Neural Circuits: Evidence for a Final Common Pathway in Schizophrenia? Schizophr Bull, July 1, 2007; 33(4): 971 - 981. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help