Dataset Information

?-adrenergic modulation of discrimination learning and memory in the auditory cortex.

ABSTRACT: Despite vast literature on catecholaminergic neuromodulation of auditory cortex functioning in general, knowledge about its role for long-term memory formation is scarce. Our previous pharmacological studies on cortex-dependent frequency-modulated tone-sweep discrimination learning of Mongolian gerbils showed that auditory-cortical D1/5 -dopamine receptor activity facilitates memory consolidation and anterograde memory formation. Considering overlapping functions of D1/5 -dopamine receptors and ?-adrenoceptors, we hypothesised a role of ?-adrenergic signalling in the auditory cortex for sweep discrimination learning and memory. Supporting this hypothesis, the ?1/2 -adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol bilaterally applied to the gerbil auditory cortex after task acquisition prevented the discrimination increment that was normally monitored 1 day later. The increment in the total number of hurdle crossings performed in response to the sweeps per se was normal. Propranolol infusion after the seventh training session suppressed the previously established sweep discrimination. The suppressive effect required antagonist injection in a narrow post-session time window. When applied to the auditory cortex 1 day before initial conditioning, ?1 -adrenoceptor-antagonising and ?1 -adrenoceptor-stimulating agents retarded and facilitated, respectively, sweep discrimination learning, whereas ?2 -selective drugs were ineffective. In contrast, single-sweep detection learning was normal after propranolol infusion. By immunohistochemistry, ?1 - and ?2 -adrenoceptors were identified on the neuropil and somata of pyramidal and non-pyramidal neurons of the gerbil auditory cortex. The present findings suggest that ?-adrenergic signalling in the auditory cortex has task-related importance for discrimination learning of complex sounds: as previously shown for D1/5 -dopamine receptor signalling, ?-adrenoceptor activity supports long-term memory consolidation and reconsolidation; additionally, tonic input through ?1 -adrenoceptors may control mechanisms permissive for memory acquisition.

SUBMITTER: Schicknick H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6900137 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

β-adrenergic modulation of discrimination learning and memory in the auditory cortex.

Schicknick Horst H Henschke Julia U JU Budinger Eike E Ohl Frank W FW Gundelfinger Eckart D ED Tischmeyer Wolfgang W

The European journal of neuroscience 20190701 7

Despite vast literature on catecholaminergic neuromodulation of auditory cortex functioning in general, knowledge about its role for long-term memory formation is scarce. Our previous pharmacological studies on cortex-dependent frequency-modulated tone-sweep discrimination learning of Mongolian gerbils showed that auditory-cortical D<sub>1/5</sub> -dopamine receptor activity facilitates memory consolidation and anterograde memory formation. Considering overlapping functions of D<sub>1/5</sub> -d ...[more]

PMID: 31162753

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Project description:Sensory cortices, even of primary regions, are not purely unisensory. Rather, cortical neurons in sensory cortex show various forms of multisensory interactions. While some multisensory interactions naturally co-occur, the combination of others will co-occur through experience. In real life, learning and experience will result in conjunction with seemingly disparate sensory information that ultimately becomes behaviorally relevant, impacting perception, cognition, and action. Here we describe a novel auditory discrimination task in mice, designed to manipulate the expectation of upcoming trials using olfactory cues. We show that, after learning, female mice display a transient period of several days during which they exploit odor-mediated expectations for making correct decisions. Using two-photon calcium imaging of single neurons in auditory cortex (ACx) during behavior, we found that the behavioral effects of odor-mediated expectations are accompanied by an odor-induced modulation of neuronal activity. Further, we find that these effects are manifested differentially, based on the response preference of individual cells. A significant portion of effects, but not all, are consistent with a predictive coding framework. Our data show that learning novel odor-sound associations evoke changes in ACx. We suggest that behaviorally relevant multisensory environments mediate contextual effects as early as ACx.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Natural environments are composed of multisensory objects. It remains unclear whether and how animals learn the regularities of congruent multisensory associations and how these may impact behavior and neural activity. We tested how learned odor-sound associations affected single-neuron responses in auditory cortex. We introduce a novel auditory discrimination task for mice in which odors set different contexts of expectation to upcoming trials. We show that, although the task can be solved purely by sounds, odor-mediated expectation impacts performance. We further show that odors cause a modulation of neuronal activity in auditory cortex, which is correlated with behavior. These results suggest that learning prompts an interaction of odor and sound information as early as sensory cortex.

Dataset Information

?-adrenergic modulation of discrimination learning and memory in the auditory cortex.

Publications

β-adrenergic modulation of discrimination learning and memory in the auditory cortex.

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