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Conditional modulation of spike-timing-dependent plasticity for olfactory learning

Nature volume 482, pages 47–52 (2012)Cite this article

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A Corrigendum to this article was published on 04 July 2012

Abstract

Mushroom bodies are a well-known site for associative learning in insects. Yet the precise mechanisms that underlie plasticity there and ensure their specificity remain elusive. In locusts, the synapses between the intrinsic mushroom body neurons and their postsynaptic targets obey a Hebbian spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) rule. Although this property homeostatically regulates the timing of mushroom body output, its potential role in associative learning is unknown. Here we show in vivo that pre–post pairing causing STDP can, when followed by the local delivery of a reinforcement-mediating neuromodulator, specify the synapses that will undergo an associative change. At these synapses, and there only, the change is a transformation of the STDP rule itself. These results illustrate the multiple actions of STDP, including a role in associative learning, despite potential temporal dissociation between the pairings that specify synaptic modification and the delivery of reinforcement-mediating neuromodulator signals.

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Figure 1: Beta-lobe neurons are promiscuous.
Figure 2: Saturation of activity caused by STDP can be counteracted by lateral inhibition.
Figure 3: OCT changes the STDP rule.
Figure 4: Odour-specific decrease of mushroom body output by OCT.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Lawrence Hanson Chair at Caltech, the National Institutes on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, Caltech's Broad Fellows Program, the Office of Naval Research (grants N00014-07-1-0741 and N00014-10-1-0735) and the Max Planck Society. We are grateful to L.-P. Mok for help with locust dissections and to E. Schuman, A. Siapas, E. Lubenov, M. Papadopoulou and members of the Laurent lab for comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 91125, California, USA

    Stijn Cassenaer & Gilles Laurent

  2. Broad Fellows Program in Brain Circuitry, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, 91125, California, USA

    Stijn Cassenaer

  3. Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, 60528 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Gilles Laurent

Authors
  1. Stijn Cassenaer
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  2. Gilles Laurent
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S.C. and G.L. designed the experiments and simulations, discussed the results and wrote the paper. S.C. carried out the experiments and simulations.

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Correspondence to Stijn Cassenaer or Gilles Laurent.

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Cassenaer, S., Laurent, G. Conditional modulation of spike-timing-dependent plasticity for olfactory learning. Nature 482, 47–52 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10776

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