Abstract
Changes in spine morphology may underlie memory formation, but the molecular mechanisms that subserve such alterations are poorly understood. Here we show that fear conditioning in rats leads to the movement of profilin, an actin polymerization–regulatory protein, into dendritic spines in the lateral amygdala and that these spines undergo enlargements in their postsynaptic densities (PSDs). A greater proportion of profilin-containing spines with enlarged PSDs could contribute to the enhancement of associatively induced synaptic responses in the lateral amygdala following fear learning.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bailey, C.H., Kandel, E.R. & Si, K. Neuron 44, 49–57 (2004).
Lamprecht, R. & LeDoux, J. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 5, 45–54 (2004).
Geinisman, Y., Berry, R.W., Disterhoft, J.F., Power, J.M. & Van der Zee, E.A. J. Neurosci. 21, 5568–5573 (2001).
Leuner, B., Falduto, J. & Shors, T.J. J. Neurosci. 23, 659–665 (2003).
Witke, W. Trends Cell Biol. 14, 461–469 (2004).
Ackermann, M. & Matus, A. Nat. Neurosci. 6, 1194–1200 (2003).
Neuhoff, H. et al. Eur. J. Neurosci. 21, 15–25 (2005).
LeDoux, J.E. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 23, 155–184 (2000).
Millhouse, O.E. & DeOlmos, J. Neuroscience 10, 1269–1300 (1983).
Rodrigues, S.M., Farb, C.R., Bauer, E.P., LeDoux, J.E. & Schafe, G.E. J. Neurosci. 24, 3281–3288 (2004).
Fukazawa, Y. et al. Neuron 38, 447–460 (2003).
Takumi, Y., Ramirez-Leon, V., Laake, P., Rinvik, E. & Ottersen, O.P. Nat. Neurosci. 2, 618–624 (1999).
Rumpel, S., LeDoux, J., Zador, A. & Malinow, R. Science 308, 83–88 (2005).
Acknowledgements
We thank D. Bush for his helpful discussions about this work. This research was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grants MH58911, MH46516, MH38774 and MH067048.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Fig. 1
A summary of the results obtained in this study. (PDF 13 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lamprecht, R., Farb, C., Rodrigues, S. et al. Fear conditioning drives profilin into amygdala dendritic spines. Nat Neurosci 9, 481–483 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1672
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1672
- Springer Nature America, Inc.
This article is cited by
-
Rac1 GTPase activation impairs fear conditioning-induced structural changes in basolateral amygdala neurons and long-term fear memory formation
Neuropsychopharmacology (2023)
-
Functional interdependence of the actin regulators CAP1 and cofilin1 in control of dendritic spine morphology
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences (2022)
-
Electrodiffusion with Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels in Dendritic Spine
Bulletin of Mathematical Biology (2021)
-
Integrated miRNA-/mRNA-Seq of the Habenulo-Interpeduncular Circuit During Acute Nicotine Withdrawal
Scientific Reports (2020)
-
D-Cycloserine Ameliorates Autism-Like Deficits by Removing GluA2-Containing AMPA Receptors in a Valproic Acid-Induced Rat Model
Molecular Neurobiology (2018)