Amygdala Coordination With Orbitofrontal Cortex Memory Trace Neurons Drives the Expression of Flexible Behavior and Related Changes in Dendritic Spines Open Access

Abstract

Behavioral flexibility is the ability to adapt behavioral strategies using novel information to respond to a changing environment. We recently discovered a population of neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) that encodes memories for optimal action strategies when familiar task conditions change. These neurons are necessary for memory retrieval when mice flexibly modify reward-related actions, and they undergo learning-related dendritic spine turnover, forming memory traces. We first hypothesized that conditions that diminish flexible behavior would diminish learning-related spine turnover on these neurons. Learning-related dendritic spine plasticity was indeed ablated by cocaine and chemogenetic silencing of excitatory neurons in basolateral amygdala (BLA) – two distinct manipulations that obscure memory formation. To further crystalize what kind of plasticity in the BLA is necessary for memory formation, we additionally inhibited activity of the neurotrophin receptor tyrosine receptor kinase B in the BLA, again blocking new learning necessary for flexible behavior. Thus, cell populations in the OFC that form memory traces for adaptive action strategies undergo dendritic spine plasticity that requires concurrent, and likely neurotrophin-dependent, plasticity in the BLA.

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..1-6

Methods………………………………………………………………………………………..7-13

Results (including Figures 1-4)……………………………………………………………….14-22

Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………….23-28

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………29-30

References……………………………………………………………………………………31-36

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology
Degree	B.S.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Psychobiology Biology, Neuroscience
Keyword	memory trace basolateral amygdala orbitofrontal cortex learning dendritic spines
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dr. Shannon Gourley, Emory University
Committee Members	Dr. Anita Devineni, Emory University Dr. Leah Roesch, Emory University

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