WWW.JNEUROSCI.ORG
-
The Journal of Neuroscience
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     
-


HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP
The Journal of Neuroscience, March 25, 2009, 29(12):3676-3684; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5716-08.2009

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental Data
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in J. Neurosci.
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (1)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Xu, J.
Right arrow Articles by Heinemann, S. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Xu, J.
Right arrow Articles by Heinemann, S. F.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
mGluR5 Has a Critical Role in Inhibitory Learning

Jian Xu,1 Yongling Zhu,1 Anis Contractor,2 and Stephen F. Heinemann1

1The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, La Jolla, California 92037, and 2Department of Physiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60611

Correspondence should be addressed to Jian Xu, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, La Jolla, CA 92037. Email: jxu{at}salk.edu

The mechanisms that contribute to the extinction of previously acquired memories are not well understood. These processes, often referred to as inhibitory learning, are thought to be parallel learning mechanisms that require a reacquisition of new information and suppression of previously acquired experiences in order to adapt to novel situations. Using newly generated metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) knock-out mice, we investigated the role of mGluR5 in the acquisition and reversal of an associative conditioned task and a spatial reference task. We found that acquisition of fear conditioning is partially impaired in mice lacking mGluR5. More markedly, we found that extinction of both contextual and auditory fear was completely abolished in mGluR5 knock-out mice. In the Morris Water Maze test (MWM), mGluR5 knock-out mice exhibited mild deficits in the rate of acquisition of the regular water maze task, but again had significant deficits in the reversal task, despite overall spatial memory being intact. Together, these results demonstrate that mGluR5 is critical to the function of neural circuits that are required for inhibitory learning mechanisms, and suggest that targeting metabotropic receptors may be useful in treating psychiatric disorders in which aversive memories are inappropriately retained.

Received Dec. 1, 2008; revised Feb. 4, 2009; accepted Feb. 13, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to Jian Xu, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, La Jolla, CA 92037. Email: jxu{at}salk.edu


Related articles in J. Neurosci.:

This Week in The Journal

J. Neurosci. 2009 29: i. [Full Text]  





-
-

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help
-
Copyright 2009 by Society for Neuroscience ONLINE ISSN: 1529-2401
-