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

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, January 18, 2006, 26(3):908-915; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4194-05.2006

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 Rajji, T. Articles by Greene, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rajji, T. Articles by Greene, R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
The Role of CA3 Hippocampal NMDA Receptors in Paired Associate Learning

Tarek Rajji,^1,2 David Chapman,^1,2 Howard Eichenbaum,³ and Robert Greene^1,2

¹Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas 75235, ²Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System, Dallas, Texas 75216, and ³Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215

The hippocampus is necessary for declarative memory in humans and episodic memory in rodents. Considerable current research is focused on the role of plasticity within specific subfields of the hippocampus. Here, using a viral vector to temporally control a focal deletion of the NR1 gene, we show that learning novel paired associations between specific cues and their context is dependent on CA3 NMDA receptors. Deletion of CA3 NR1 genes in <30% of the dorsal hippocampus was sufficient to disrupt new learning, whereas the same treatment does not prevent expression of previously acquired paired associates and does not affect the ability to discriminate contexts or paired associate learning when either the cues or the context is familiar. The findings suggest that CA3 NMDA receptors specifically support the encoding of new experiences to involve incidental and contingent associations.

Key words: learning; memory; NR1; adeno-associated virus; conditional; knock-out; declarative memory disorder model

---

Received Oct 2, 2005; revised November 1, 2005; accepted November 28, 2005.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. W. Komorowski, J. R. Manns, and H. Eichenbaum Robust Conjunctive Item-Place Coding by Hippocampal Neurons Parallels Learning What Happens Where J. Neurosci., August 5, 2009; 29(31): 9918 - 9929. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. E. Bjorness, C. L. Kelly, T. Gao, V. Poffenberger, and R. W. Greene Control and Function of the Homeostatic Sleep Response by Adenosine A1 Receptors J. Neurosci., February 4, 2009; 29(5): 1267 - 1276. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Kubik, T. Miyashita, and J. F. Guzowski Using immediate-early genes to map hippocampal subregional functions Learn. Mem., November 15, 2007; 14(11): 758 - 770. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. P. Kesner Behavioral functions of the CA3 subregion of the hippocampus Learn. Mem., November 15, 2007; 14(11): 771 - 781. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help