Competition between engrams influences fear memory formation and recall

Abstract

Engrams are the changes in brain tissue that store single memories. Neuroscientists can localize and manipulate them, but until now, little was known about how multiple engrams interact to influence memories. Rashid et al. examined how neural assemblies in an area called the lateral amygdala interact. If two frightening events occurred within 6 hours, the same set of neurons was used to express fear memories for both events. However, if the events were separated by 24 hours, distinct memory traces were formed.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jul 22, 2016
Source ID
10.1126/science.aaf0594

Entities

People

  • Antonietta De Cristofaro
  • Asim J. Rashid
  • Charu Ramakrishnan
  • Christina J. Cole
  • Hwa-lin (liz) Hsiang
  • Julia Yu
  • Karl Deisseroth
  • Paul W. Frankland
  • Sheena A. Josselyn
  • Soo Yeun Lee
  • Sungmo Park
  • Valentina Mercaldo
  • Yan Chen

Organizations

  • Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
  • Brain Canada Foundation
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
  • Hospital for Sick Children
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • National Institute of Mental Health
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
  • Stanford University
  • United States Army Research Laboratory
  • University of Toronto

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Biology
  • Psychology

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Neuroscience