Title
The maturational characteristics of the GABA input in the anterior piriform cortex may also contribute to the rapid learning of the maternal odor during the sensitive period
Date Issued
01 January 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Publisher(s)
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Abstract
During the first ten postnatal days (P), infant rodents can learn olfactory preferences for novel odors if they are paired with thermo-tactile stimuli that mimic components of maternal care. After P10, the thermo-tactile pairing becomes ineffective for conditioning. The current explanation for this change in associative learning is the alteration in the norepinephrine (NE) inputs from the locus coeruleus (LC) to the olfactory bulb (OB) and the anterior piriform cortex (aPC). By combining patch-clamp electrophysiology and computational simulations, we showed in a recent work that a transitory high responsiveness of the OB-aPC circuit to the maternal odor is an alternative mechanism that could also explain early olfactory preference learning and its cessation after P10. That result relied solely on the maturational properties of the aPC pyramidal cells. However, the GABAergic system undergoes important changes during the same period. To address the importance of the maturation of the GABAergic system for early olfactory learning, we incorporated data from the GABA inputs, obtained from in vitro patch-clamp experiment in the aPC of rat pups aged P5–P7 reported here, to the model proposed in our previous publication. In the younger than P10 OB-aPC circuit with GABA synaptic input, the number of responsive aPC pyramidal cells to the conditioned maternal odor was amplified in 30% compared to the circuit without GABAergic input. When compared with the circuit with other younger than P10 OB-aPC circuit with adult GABAergic input profile, this amplification was 88%. Together, our results suggest that during the olfactory preference learning in younger than P10, the GABAergic synaptic input presumably acts by depolarizing the aPC pyramidal neurons in such a way that it leads to the amplification of the pyramidal neurons response to the conditioned maternal odor. Furthermore, our results suggest that during this developmental period, the aPC pyramidal cells themselves seem to resolve the apparent lack of GABAergic synaptic inhibition by a strong firing adaptation in response to increased depolarizing inputs.
Start page
493
End page
502
Volume
27
Issue
12
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencias médicas, Ciencias de la salud
Neurociencias
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85096256742
PubMed ID
Source
Learning and Memory
ISSN of the container
10720502
Sponsor(s)
E.M.O. is supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES; process no. 1608346). G.V.E.P. is supported by a doctoral scholarship from Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnológico (CNPq; process no. 141727/2014-4). A.B.L. and M.E.C. are funded by CNPq (process no. 465671/2014-4). M.A.P.I. is supported by CNPq (process no. 423843/2016-8). Other funding that partly contributed to the end of this work is provided to G.V.E.P. by Universidad de Ciencias y Humanidades (UCH) under research grant “Exploración teórico-experimental neurocomportamental de la formación del apego madre-infante en el desarrollo tem-prano” (resolución no. 012-2019-CU-UCH).
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus