Differential conditioning produces merged long-term memory in Drosophila
- Tsinghua University, China
Abstract
Multiple spaced trials of aversive differential conditioning can produce two independent long-term memories (LTMs) of opposite valence. One is an aversive memory for avoiding the conditioned stimulus (CS+), and the other is a safety memory for approaching the non-conditioned stimulus (CS-). Here, we show that a single trial of aversive differential conditioning yields one merged LTM (mLTM) for avoiding both CS+ and CS-. Such mLTM can be detected after sequential exposures to the shock-paired CS+ and unpaired CS-, and be retrieved by either CS+ or CS-. The formation of mLTM relies on triggering aversive-reinforcing dopaminergic neurons and subsequent new protein synthesis. Expressing mLTM involves αβ Kenyon cells and corresponding approach-directing mushroom body output neurons (MBONs), in which similar-amplitude long-term depression of responses to CS+ and CS- seems to signal the mLTM. Our results suggest that animals can develop distinct strategies for occasional and repeated threatening experiences.
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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.
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Author details
Funding
National Science Foundation of China (31970955)
- Qian Li
Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences
- Yi Zhong
The funders had no role in study design, data collection, and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2021, Zhao et al.
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.
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Differential conditioning produces merged long-term memory in Drosophila
eLife 10:e66499.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66499
