A central issue in behavioral neuroscience is how alterations in neural pathways mediate the durable behavior changes involved in learning. Taste aversion conditioning is an excellent model for studying the neural changes involved in learning because this conditioning can occur in a single trial, despite lengthy delays between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli. The proposed studies are based on the identification of a cellular correlate of the behavioral expression of a conditioned taste aversion, namely, cells in the nucleus of the solitary tract. C-fos induction occurs in cells in the nucleus of the solitary tract in response to a taste made aversive by conditioning, but not in response to the same taste prior to conditioning or to a taste (quinine) which is innately aversive. Proposed studies will combine this cellular measure with behavioral assessment to further assess the cellular c-fos response and its reliability as a marker of learning. Studies will also examine the functional importance of cells in the nucleus of the solitary tract which display c-fos induction during expression of this learning, using asymmetrical lesion techniques. Additionally, studies will continue to define the forebrain pathways critical to this learning, with a focus on ipsilateral connections between the amygdala and the nucleus of the solitary tract which appear necessary for cellular, as well as behavioral, manifestations of this learning. The role of insular cortex will also be examined. Finally, studies will identify the targets of activated modified behavioral response to a taste after conditioning. By defining the neural pathways and cell types involved in CTA learning, this project provide the groundwork for eventually characterizing the plastic changes within and between cells which underlie this learning.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01NS037040-01
Application #
2450926
Study Section
Biopsychology Study Section (BPO)
Program Officer
Broman, Sarah H
Project Start
1998-01-12
Project End
2000-12-31
Budget Start
1998-01-12
Budget End
1998-12-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1998
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Washington
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
135646524
City
Seattle
State
WA
Country
United States
Zip Code
98195
Chung, Ain; Barot, Sabiha K; Kim, Jeansok J et al. (2011) Biologically predisposed learning and selective associations in amygdalar neurons. Learn Mem 18:371-4
Kim, Min Jung; Mizumori, Sheri J Y; Bernstein, Ilene L (2010) Neuronal representation of conditioned taste in the basolateral amygdala of rats. Neurobiol Learn Mem 93:406-14
Clark, Emily Wilkins; Bernstein, Ilene L (2009) Establishing aversive, but not safe, taste memories requires lateralized pontine-cortical connections. Behav Brain Res 197:356-63
Barot, Sabiha K; Chung, Ain; Kim, Jeansok J et al. (2009) Functional imaging of stimulus convergence in amygdalar neurons during Pavlovian fear conditioning. PLoS One 4:e6156
Clark, Emily Wilkins; Bernstein, Ilene L (2009) Boosting cholinergic activity in gustatory cortex enhances the salience of a familiar conditioned stimulus in taste aversion learning. Behav Neurosci 123:764-71
Barot, Sabiha K; Kyono, Yasuhiro; Clark, Emily W et al. (2008) Visualizing stimulus convergence in amygdala neurons during associative learning. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105:20959-63
Wilkins, Emily E; Bernstein, Ilene L (2006) Conditioning method determines patterns of c-fos expression following novel taste-illness pairing. Behav Brain Res 169:93-7
Koh, Ming Teng; Bernstein, Ilene L (2005) Mapping conditioned taste aversion associations using c-Fos reveals a dynamic role for insular cortex. Behav Neurosci 119:388-98
Barot, Sabiha K; Bernstein, Ilene L (2005) Polycose taste pre-exposure fails to influence behavioral and neural indices of taste novelty. Behav Neurosci 119:1640-7
Spray, Kristina J; Bernstein, Ilene L (2004) Afferent and efferent connections of the parvicellular subdivision of iNTS: defining a circuit involved in taste aversion learning. Behav Brain Res 154:85-97

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