Abstract
Hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) can be dissociated in early-LTP lasting 4-5 h and late-LTP with a duration of more than 8 h, the latter of which requires protein synthesis and heterosynaptic activity during its induction. Previous studies in vivo have shown that early-LTP in the dentate gyrus can protein synthesis-dependently be transformed (reinforced) into late-LTP by the association of arousing novel environmental stimuli. Here we show that consolidation of spatial memory also reinforces early-LTP in the dentate gyrus. Both memory consolidation and LTP-reinforcement depend on protein synthesis. Four groups of animals were trained by five, seven, eight or 10 trials, respectively, to recognize a fixed pattern of baited holes. The last trial was performed 15 min after tetanus. Errors of long-term reference memory during the last trial were significantly decreased only in the eight- and 10-trial experimental groups compared to pseudo-trained animals. In correlation to this learning effect we found a reinforcement of early-LTP only in these experimental groups compared to controls. The data suggest that the synthesis of new proteins required for spatial reference-memory formation also contributes to LTP maintenance in the hippocampal dentate gyrus.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 165-171 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Learning and Memory |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2005 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience