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- Title
Rapid Activation of Plasticity-Associated Gene Transcription in Hippocampal Neurons Provides a Mechanism for Encoding of One-Trial Experience.
- Authors
Miyashita, Teiko; Kubik, Stepan; Haghighi, Nahideh; Steward, Oswald; Guzowski, John F.
- Abstract
The hippocampus is hypothesized to support rapid encoding of ongoing experience. A critical prerequisite for such function is the ability to readily recruit enduring synaptic plasticity in hippocampal neurons. Hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and memory consolidation require expression of the immediate-early gene (IEG) Arc. To determine whether Arc transcription could be driven by limited and controlled behavioral experience, we used a rectangular track paradigm. In past electrophysiological studies, pyramidal neurons recorded from rats running in one direction on similar tracks typically exhibited a single firing field. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization, we show that the behavioral activity associated with a single lap around the track was sufficient to trigger Arc transcription in complete CA3 neuronal ensembles, as predicted given the role of CA3 in one-trial learning. In contrast, Arc transcription in CA1 ensembles was recruited incrementally, with maximal activation achieved after four laps a day for 4 consecutive days. To test whether Arc transcription is linked to learning and plasticity, or merely elicited by location-specific firing, we inactivated the medial septum, a treatment that compromises hippocampus-dependent learning and LTP but spares location-specific firing in CA1 neurons. Septal inactivation abolished track training-induced Arc transcription in CA1 and CA3 neurons, showing that Arc transcription requires plasticity-inducing stimuli. Accordingly, LTP induction activated Arc transcription in CA1 neurons in vivo. These findings demonstrate for the first time that a single brief experience, equivalent to a single crossing of a firing field, can trigger IEG expression required for long-term plasticity in the hippocampus.
- Subjects
HIPPOCAMPUS (Brain); MEMORY; GENETIC transcription; NEUROPLASTICITY; NEURAL transmission
- Publication
Journal of Neuroscience, 2009, Vol 29, Issue 4, p898
- ISSN
0270-6474
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4588-08.2009