Article abstract
Nature Neuroscience 12, 53 - 59 (2008)
Published online: 30 November 2008 | doi:10.1038/nn.2235
The GABAergic anterior paired lateral neuron suppresses and is suppressed by olfactory learning
Abstract
GABAergic neurotransmitter systems are important for many cognitive processes, including learning and memory. We identified a single neuron in each hemisphere of the Drosophila brain, the anterior paired lateral (APL) neuron, as a GABAergic neuron that broadly innervated the mushroom bodies. Reducing GABA synthesis in the APL neuron enhanced olfactory learning, suggesting that the APL neuron suppressed learning by releasing the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. Functional optical-imaging experiments revealed that the APL neuron responded to both odor and electric-shock stimuli that was presented to the fly with increases of intracellular calcium and released neurotransmitter. Notably, a memory trace formed in the APL neuron by pairing odor with electric shock. This trace was detected as a reduced calcium response in the APL neuron after conditioning specifically to the trained odor. These results demonstrate a mutual suppression between the GABAergic APL neuron and olfactory learning, and emphasize the functional neuroplasticity of the GABAergic system as a result of learning.
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
- Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
- Present address: Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, RIKEN-MIT Neuroscience Research Center, Department of Biology and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Correspondence to: Ronald L Davis1,2 e-mail: rdavis@bcm.tmc.edu
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