ASIC1a regulates insular long-term depression and is required for the extinction of conditioned taste aversion.

ABSTRACT: Acid-sensing ion channel 1a (ASIC1a) has been shown to play important roles in synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. Here we identify a crucial role for ASIC1a in long-term depression (LTD) at mouse insular synapses. Genetic ablation and pharmacological inhibition of ASIC1a reduced the induction probability of LTD without affecting that of long-term potentiation in the insular cortex. The disruption of ASIC1a also attenuated the extinction of established taste aversion memory without altering the initial associative taste learning or its long-term retention. Extinction of taste aversive memory led to the reduced insular synaptic efficacy, which precluded further LTD induction. The impaired LTD and extinction learning in ASIC1a null mice were restored by virus-mediated expression of wil

SUBMITTER: Li WG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5150990 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature