Hippocampal and cortical primary cilia are required for aversive memory in mice.

ABSTRACT: It has been known for decades that neurons throughout the brain possess solitary, immotile, microtubule based appendages called primary cilia. Only recently have studies tried to address the functions of these cilia and our current understanding remains poor. To determine if neuronal cilia have a role in behavior we specifically disrupted ciliogenesis in the cortex and hippocampus of mice through conditional deletion of the Intraflagellar Transport 88 (Ift88) gene. The effects on learning and memory were analyzed using both Morris Water Maze and fear conditioning paradigms. In comparison to wild type controls, cilia mutants displayed deficits in aversive learning and memory and novel object recognition. Furthermore, hippocampal neurons from mutants displayed an altered paired-pulse respons

SUBMITTER: Berbari NF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4153651 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature