Temporal Discontiguity Is neither Necessary nor Sufficient for Learning-Induced Effects on Adult Neurogenesis

By B. Leuner, J. Waddell, E. Gould, T. Shors. 2006

63 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Some, but not all, types of learning and memory can influence neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus. Trace eyeblink conditioning has been shown to enhance the survival of new neurons, whereas delay eyeblink conditioning has no such effect. The key difference between the two training procedures is that the conditioning stimuli are separated in time during trace but not delay conditioning. These findings raise the question of whether temporal discontiguity is necessary for enhancing the survival of new neurons. Here we used two approaches to test this hypothesis. First, we examined the influence of a delay conditioning task in which the duration of the conditioned stimulus (CS) was increased nearly twofold, a procedure that critically engages the hippocampus. Although the CS and unconditioned stimulus are contiguous, this very long delay conditioning procedure increased the number of new neurons that survived. Second, we examined the influence of learning the trace conditioned response (CR) after having acquired the CR during delay conditioning, a procedure that renders trace conditioning hippocampal-independent. In this case, trace conditioning did not enhance the survival of new neurons. Together, these results demonstrate that associative learning increases the survival of new neurons in the adult hippocampus, regardless of temporal contiguity.

Subfields: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Developmental Neuroscience, Neurology

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

1. Fred H. Gage
2. James Bradley Aimone
3. Wei Deng
4. E. Gould
5. B. Leuner
6. Hongjun Song
7. Guo-li Ming
8. A. F. Schinder

In Developmental Neuroscience

1. Fred H. Gage
2. James Bradley Aimone
3. Wei Deng
4. B. Leuner
5. E. Gould
6. Hongjun Song
7. Guo-li Ming
8. R. Hen

In Neurology

1. James Bradley Aimone
2. Wei Deng
3. B. Leuner
4. Fred H. Gage
5. E. Gould
6. Hongjun Song
7. Chunmei Zhao
8. Guo-li Ming

Citations in the corpus

• New neurons and new memories: how does adult hippocampal neurogenesis affect learning and memory? (2010, background): “For example, learning of hippocampus-dependent tasks but not hippocampus-independent tasks increases the number of adult-born DGCs at around 1 week of ag”
• Structural Plasticity and Hippocampal Function (2010, background): “Because of the caveats associated with correlative studies, other work has attempted to demonstrate a casual relationship between learning and neurogenesis, but these too have yielded mixed findings (Leuner et al. 2006b).”