Article abstract
Nature Neuroscience 10, 1578 - 1586 (2007)
Published online: 4 November 2007 | doi:10.1038/nn2005
Specific requirement of NMDA receptors for long-term memory consolidation in Drosophila ellipsoid body
Chia-Lin Wu1,2,6, Shouzhen Xia3,6, Tsai-Feng Fu1,2,4, Huaien Wang3, Ying-Hsiu Chen1,2, Daniel Leong3,5, Ann-Shyn Chiang1,2 & Tim Tully3
Abstract
In humans and many other animals, memory consolidation occurs through multiple temporal phases and usually involves more than one neuroanatomical brain system. Genetic dissection of Pavlovian olfactory learning in Drosophila melanogaster has revealed multiple memory phases, but the predominant view holds that all memory phases occur in mushroom body neurons. Here, we demonstrate an acute requirement for NMDA receptors (NMDARs) outside of the mushroom body during long-term memory (LTM) consolidation. Targeted dsRNA-mediated silencing of Nmdar1 and Nmdar2 (also known as dNR1 or dNR2, respectively) in cholinergic R4m-subtype large-field neurons of the ellipsoid body specifically disrupted LTM consolidation, but not retrieval. Similar silencing of functional NMDARs in the mushroom body disrupted an earlier memory phase, leaving LTM intact. Our results clearly establish an anatomical site outside of the mushroom body involved with LTM consolidation, thus revealing both a distributed brain system subserving olfactory memory formation and the existence of a system-level memory consolidation in Drosophila.
- Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Life Science, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.
- Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua University, University System of Taiwan, 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724, USA.
- Department of Applied Chemistry, National Chi Nan University, University Road, Puli, Nantou 545, Taiwan.
- Present address: Department of Biomedical Engineering, City College of New York, 138th Street and Convent Avenue, New York, New York 10031, USA.
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Ann-Shyn Chiang1,2 e-mail: aschiang@life.nthu.edu.tw
Correspondence to: Tim Tully3 e-mail: tully@cshl.edu
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