RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Neurogenesis-mediated forgetting of complex paired-associates memories
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.03.25.437009
DO 10.1101/2021.03.25.437009
A1 Jonathan R Epp
A1 Leigh C.P. Botly
A1 Sheena A Josselyn
A1 Paul W Frankland
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/03/25/2021.03.25.437009.abstract
AB The hippocampus is a critical structure involved in many forms of learning and memory. It is also one of the only regions in the adult mammalian brain that continues to generate new neurons throughout adulthood. This process of adult neurogenesis may increase the plasticity of the hippocampus which could be beneficial for learning but has also been demonstrated to decrease the stability of previously acquired memories. Here we test whether increased production of new neurons following the formation of a gradually acquired paired-associates task will result in forgetting of this type of memory. We trained mice in a touchscreen-based object/location task and then increased neurogenesis using voluntary exercise. Our results indicate that mice with increased neurogenesis show poor recall of the previously established memory. When subsequently exposed to a reversal task we also show that mice with increased neurogenesis require fewer correction trials to acquire the new task contingencies. This suggests that prior forgetting reduces perseveration on the now outdated memory. Together our results add to a growing body of literature which indicates the important role of adult neurogenesis in destabilizing previously acquired memories to allow for flexible encoding of new memories.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.