Noradrenergic projections from the locus coeruleus to the amygdala constrain fear memory reconsolidation

Abstract
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Abstract

Memory reconsolidation is a fundamental plasticity process in the brain that allows established memories to be changed or erased. However, certain boundary conditions limit the parameters under which memories can be made plastic. Strong memories do not destabilize, for instance, although why they are resilient is mostly unknown. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that specific modulatory signals shape memory formation into a state that is reconsolidation-resistant. We find that the activation of the noradrenaline-locus coeruleus system (NOR-LC) during strong fear memory encoding increases molecular mechanisms of stability at the expense of lability in the amygdala of rats. Preventing the NOR-LC from modulating strong fear encoding results in the formation of memories that can undergo reconsolidation within the amygdala and thus are vulnerable to post-reactivation interference. Thus, the memory strength boundary condition on reconsolidation is set at the time of encoding by the action of the NOR-LC.

Data availability

All data is available via Dryad doi:10.5061/dryad.70rxwdbtq

The following data sets were generated

(2020) Noradrenergic projections from the locus coeruleus to the amygdala constrain fear memory reconsolidation
Dryad Digital Repository, doi:10.5061/dryad.70rxwdbtq.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.70rxwdbtq

Article and author information

Author details

Josué Haubrich

Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

For correspondence
josue.haubrich@mcgill.ca

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-3632-5566
Matteo Bernabo

Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Karim Nader

Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Funding

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (203523)

Karim Nader

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (238757)

Karim Nader

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Animal experimentation: All procedures were approved by McGill's Animal Care Committee (Animal Use Protocol #2000-4512) and complied with the Canadian Council on Animal Care guidelines.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.