Affiliations: Centro Internacional de Restauración
Neurológica (CIREN), La Habana, Cuba | ICBP "Victoria de Girón", La Habana, Cuba
Note: [] Corresponding author: Prof. Jorge A. Bergado, Centro
Internacional de Restauracion Neurologica (CIREN), Ave. 24 # 15805, Cubanacan,
Playa 11300, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba. Fax: +53 7 2732420; E-mail:
[email protected]
Abstract: Purpose: We have previously shown that the stimulation of limbic
structures related to affective life such as the amygdale can improve and
reinforce neural plastic processes related to hippocampus-dependent forms of
explicit memory, as spatial memory and LTP. We now assessed whether this effect
is restricted to the mentioned structure and memory type, or represents a more
general form of modulatory influence. Methods: Young, male Sprague Dawley rats were implanted
stereotactically with one electrode in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and
trained to acquire a motor skill using their right anterior limb. A group of
animals received 3 trains of 15 impulses at the BLA 15 minutes after each daily
training session. A second group of implanted animals was handled in the same
way, but not stimulated, while a third group was not implanted. After reaching
the training criterion the left motor cortex was mapped by the observation of
the movements induced by stimuli applied in discrete points of the cortex. Results: Cortical representation of the anterior limb was
increased in all trained animals, showing that the motor cortex is involved in
the acquisition of the new skill. Animals receiving stimulation of the BLA
showed similar cortical changes, but learned faster than non-stimulated
controls. Conclusions: Reinforcement of neural plasticity by the
activation of the amygdala is not restricted to hippocampus-dependent explicit
memory, but it might represent a universal mechanism to modulate
plasticity.
