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

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, June 29, 2005, 25(26):6066-6075; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1168-05.2005

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 (46) 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
A Subpopulation of Neurons in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Encodes Emotional Learning with Burst and Frequency Codes through a Dopamine D₄ Receptor-Dependent Basolateral Amygdala Input

Steven R. Laviolette,¹ Witold J. Lipski,¹ and Anthony A. Grace^1,2,3

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

The basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are involved importantly in the processing and encoding of emotionally salient learned associations. Here, we examined the possible role of the mPFC in the acquisition and encoding of emotional associative learning at the behavioral and single-neuron level. A subpopulation of neurons in the mPFC that received monosynaptic and orthodromic inputs from the BLA demonstrated strong associative responding to odors paired previously with footshock by increasing spontaneous activity and bursting activity. This occurred specifically in response to postconditioning presentations of the footshock-paired odors but not to odors presented in the absence of footshock. In contrast, mPFC neurons that failed to respond to BLA stimulation showed no associative responding. Systemic or intra-mPFC blockade of dopamine (DA) D₄ receptors prevented this emotional associative learning in neurons of the mPFC and blocked the expression of olfactory conditioned fear. These results demonstrate that individual neurons in the mPFC that receive a functional input from the BLA actively encode emotional learning and that this process depends on DA D₄ receptor stimulation in the mPFC.

Key words: amygdala; cortex; learning; neuron; plasticity; dopamine receptor; prefrontal cortex

---

Received March 24, 2005; revised May 6, 2005; accepted May 14, 2005.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Roozendaal, J. R. McReynolds, E. A. Van der Zee, S. Lee, J. L. McGaugh, and C. K. McIntyre Glucocorticoid Effects on Memory Consolidation Depend on Functional Interactions between the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Basolateral Amygdala J. Neurosci., November 11, 2009; 29(45): 14299 - 14308. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				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]

				J. P. Fadok, T. M. K. Dickerson, and R. D. Palmiter Dopamine Is Necessary for Cue-Dependent Fear Conditioning J. Neurosci., September 9, 2009; 29(36): 11089 - 11097. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. J. Tye, D. P. Covey, and C. J. Griessenauer A Balancing Act: D4 Receptor Activation and the Neurobiological Basis of Emotional Learning J. Neurosci., September 2, 2009; 29(35): 10785 - 10787. [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Burgos-Robles, I. Vidal-Gonzalez, and G. J. Quirk Sustained Conditioned Responses in Prelimbic Prefrontal Neurons Are Correlated with Fear Expression and Extinction Failure J. Neurosci., July 1, 2009; 29(26): 8474 - 8482. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Peters, P. W. Kalivas, and G. J. Quirk Extinction circuits for fear and addiction overlap in prefrontal cortex Learn. Mem., April 20, 2009; 16(5): 279 - 288. [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]

				O. Valenti and A. A. Grace Entorhinal Cortex Inhibits Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Modulates the Activity States of Electrophysiologically Characterized Pyramidal Neurons In Vivo Cereb Cortex, March 1, 2009; 19(3): 658 - 674. [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]

				E. Santini, G. J. Quirk, and J. T. Porter Fear Conditioning and Extinction Differentially Modify the Intrinsic Excitability of Infralimbic Neurons J. Neurosci., April 9, 2008; 28(15): 4028 - 4036. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. B. McCracken and A. A. Grace High-Frequency Deep Brain Stimulation of the Nucleus Accumbens Region Suppresses Neuronal Activity and Selectively Modulates Afferent Drive in Rat Orbitofrontal Cortex In Vivo J. Neurosci., November 14, 2007; 27(46): 12601 - 12610. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Kargieman, N. Santana, G. Mengod, P. Celada, and F. Artigas Antipsychotic drugs reverse the disruption in prefrontal cortex function produced by NMDA receptor blockade with phencyclidine PNAS, September 11, 2007; 104(37): 14843 - 14848. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. A. Antoniadis, J. T. Winslow, M. Davis, and D. G. Amaral Role of the Primate Amygdala in Fear-Potentiated Startle: Effects of Chronic Lesions in the Rhesus Monkey J. Neurosci., July 11, 2007; 27(28): 7386 - 7396. [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]

				K. M. Tye and P. H. Janak Amygdala Neurons Differentially Encode Motivation and Reinforcement J. Neurosci., April 11, 2007; 27(15): 3937 - 3945. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. B. Floresco and M. T. Tse Dopaminergic Regulation of Inhibitory and Excitatory Transmission in the Basolateral Amygdala-Prefrontal Cortical Pathway J. Neurosci., February 21, 2007; 27(8): 2045 - 2057. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. A. Corcoran and G. J. Quirk Activity in Prelimbic Cortex Is Necessary for the Expression of Learned, But Not Innate, Fears J. Neurosci., January 24, 2007; 27(4): 840 - 844. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. L. Wellman, A. Izquierdo, J. E. Garrett, K. P. Martin, J. Carroll, R. Millstein, K.-P. Lesch, D. L. Murphy, and A. Holmes Impaired Stress-Coping and Fear Extinction and Abnormal Corticolimbic Morphology in Serotonin Transporter Knock-Out Mice J. Neurosci., January 17, 2007; 27(3): 684 - 691. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Sun and G. V. Rebec Repeated cocaine self-administration alters processing of cocaine-related information in rat prefrontal cortex. J. Neurosci., July 26, 2006; 26(30): 8004 - 8008. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. R. Laviolette and A. A. Grace Cannabinoids Potentiate Emotional Learning Plasticity in Neurons of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex through Basolateral Amygdala Inputs. J. Neurosci., June 14, 2006; 26(24): 6458 - 6468. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Izquierdo, C. L. Wellman, and A. Holmes Brief Uncontrollable Stress Causes Dendritic Retraction in Infralimbic Cortex and Resistance to Fear Extinction in Mice J. Neurosci., May 24, 2006; 26(21): 5733 - 5738. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help