Basolateral Amygdala Modulates Hippocampal Synaptic Metaplasticity

The amygdala has been implicated as a modulator of hippocampus-dependent memory in behavioural studies. However, electrophysiological studies have not been well documented. Using anesthetized rats, we investigated the effect of basolateral amygdala (BLA) stimulation on the stimulus-response curve in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Pharmacological Sciences 2004, Vol.94 (suppl.3), p.295-295
Main Authors: Kazuhito Nakao, Koji Matsuyama, Maki. K Yamada, Nobuyoshi Nishiyama, Norio Matsuki, Yuji Ikegaya
Format: Article
Language:Japanese
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Summary:The amygdala has been implicated as a modulator of hippocampus-dependent memory in behavioural studies. However, electrophysiological studies have not been well documented. Using anesthetized rats, we investigated the effect of basolateral amygdala (BLA) stimulation on the stimulus-response curve in the PP-DG synapse. Stimulating electrodes were placed on the perforant path (PP) and BLA, and excitatory postsynaptic potentials were recorded from the dentate gyms (DG). When strong BLA stimulation was coupled with PP tetanus, the induction of long-term potentiation (LIP) was facilitated as compared to PP tetanus alone. On the other hand, when BLA was weakly activated simultaneously with PP tetanus, DG synaptic efficacy displayed less degrees of LIP or even long-term depression. In summery, the synaptic modification threshold was shifted leftward by strong BLA activation and rightward by weak BLA activation. Thus, the activity of BLA bidirectionally modulates hippocampal plasticity. This study provides new insights into the amygdalo-hippocampal interaction.
ISSN:1347-8613