PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Chi-Hong Wu
AU  - Raul Ramos
AU  - Donald B Katz
AU  - Gina G Turrigiano
TI  - Homeostatic Synaptic Scaling Establishes the Specificity of an Associative Memory
AID  - 10.1101/2020.12.04.412163
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.12.04.412163
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/12/04/2020.12.04.412163.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/12/04/2020.12.04.412163.full
AB  - Accurate memory formation has been hypothesized to depend on both rapid Hebbian plasticity for initial encoding, and slower homeostatic mechanisms that prevent runaway excitation and subsequent loss of memory specificity. Here, we tested the role of synaptic scaling in shaping the specificity of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) memory, a Hebbian plasticity-dependent form of associative learning. We found that CTA memory initially generalized to non-conditioned tastants (generalized aversion), becoming specific to the conditioned tastant only over the course of many hours. Blocking synaptic scaling in the gustatory cortex (GC) prolonged the duration of the initial generalized aversion and enhanced the persistence of synaptic strength increases observed after CTA. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that synaptic scaling is important for sculpting the specificity of an associative memory and suggest that the relative strengths of Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity can modulate the balance between stable memory formation and generalization.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.