Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Bidirectional behavioral plasticity of memory reconsolidation depends on amygdalar protein kinase A

Nature Neuroscience volume 9, pages 167–169 (2006)Cite this article

This article has been updated

Abstract

Reconsolidation—the stabilization of a memory after retrieval—is hypothesized to be a critical and distinct component of memory processing, the disruption of which results in memory impairment. In the rat, we found that activation of amygdalar protein kinase A (PKA) was sufficient to enhance memory only when it was retrieved; in contrast, PKA inhibition impaired reconsolidation. This study demonstrates both a selective enhancement and an impairment of memory reconsolidation dependent on amygdalar PKA.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: PKA activation in the BLA after retrieval enhanced reconsolidation of a fear memory but did not disrupt extinction.
Figure 2: Inhibition of PKA in the BLA after retrieval disrupted reconsolidation of a fear memory.

Similar content being viewed by others

Change history

  • 02 May 2006

    Replaced Supplementary Methods file

Notes

  1. NOTE: In the version of this article intially published online, the units for some of the values in the Supplementary Methods incorrectly said L. The correct unit should be µM. This error has been corrected.

References

  1. Sara, S.J. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 1, 212–213 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Nader, K., Schafe, G.E. & LeDoux, J.E. Nature 406, 722–726 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Duvarci, S. & Nader, K. J. Neurosci. 24, 9269–9275 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Gordon, W.C. Physiol. Behav. 19, 95–99 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Schafe, G.E. & LeDoux, J.E. J. Neurosci. 20, RC96 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Jentsch, J.D., Olausson, P., Nestler, E.J. & Taylor, J.R. Biol. Psychiatry 52, 111–118 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Christensen, A.E. et al. J. Biol. Chem. 278, 35394–35402 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Paxinos, G. & Watson, C. The Rat Brain Atlas in Stereotaxic Co-ordinates 4th edn. (Academic, Sydney, 1996).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Pedreira, M.E. & Maldonado, H. Neuron 38, 863–869 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Suzuki, A. et al. J. Neurosci. 24, 4787–4795 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Bahar, A., Dorfman, N. & Dudai, Y. Eur. J. Neurosci. 19, 1115–1118 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank J.J. Quinn for her comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by grant DA15222 from the US National Institute on Drug Abuse and grant MH25642 from the National Institute of Mental Health. N.C.T. was supported in part by a Robert F. Leylan Yale University Fellowship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Center for Genes and Behavior, Yale University School of Medicine, Abraham Ribicoff Research Facilities, Connecticut Mental Health Center, 34 Park Street, New Haven, 06508, Connecticut, USA

    Natalie C Tronson, Shari L Wiseman, Peter Olausson & Jane R Taylor

  2. Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, 06520, Connecticut, USA

    Natalie C Tronson & Jane R Taylor

Authors
  1. Natalie C Tronson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shari L Wiseman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Peter Olausson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jane R Taylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jane R Taylor.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Fig. 1

Schematic representation of injector placements in basolateral amygdala (BLA). (PDF 934 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 2

PKA activation in the basolateral amygdala does not affect freezing to the reactivation context. (PDF 195 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 3

Inhibition of PKA in the basolateral amygdala does not affect freezing to the reactivation context. (PDF 123 kb)

Supplementary Methods (DOC 33 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tronson, N., Wiseman, S., Olausson, P. et al. Bidirectional behavioral plasticity of memory reconsolidation depends on amygdalar protein kinase A. Nat Neurosci 9, 167–169 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1628

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1628

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing