Cargando…
DNA Methylation Adjusts the Specificity of Memories Depending on the Learning Context and Promotes Relearning in Honeybees
The activity of the epigenetic writers DNA methyltransferases (Dnmts) after olfactory reward conditioning is important for both stimulus-specific long-term memory (LTM) formation and extinction. It, however, remains unknown which components of memory formation Dnmts regulate (e.g., associative vs. n...
Autores principales: | , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2016
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5018481/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27672359 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2016.00082 |
_version_ | 1782452913283530752 |
---|---|
author | Biergans, Stephanie D. Claudianos, Charles Reinhard, Judith Galizia, C. G. |
author_facet | Biergans, Stephanie D. Claudianos, Charles Reinhard, Judith Galizia, C. G. |
author_sort | Biergans, Stephanie D. |
collection | PubMed |
description | The activity of the epigenetic writers DNA methyltransferases (Dnmts) after olfactory reward conditioning is important for both stimulus-specific long-term memory (LTM) formation and extinction. It, however, remains unknown which components of memory formation Dnmts regulate (e.g., associative vs. non-associative) and in what context (e.g., varying training conditions). Here, we address these aspects in order to clarify the role of Dnmt-mediated DNA methylation in memory formation. We used a pharmacological Dnmt inhibitor and classical appetitive conditioning in the honeybee Apis mellifera, a well characterized model for classical conditioning. We quantified the effect of DNA methylation on naïve odor and sugar responses, and on responses following olfactory reward conditioning. We show that (1) Dnmts do not influence naïve odor or sugar responses, (2) Dnmts do not affect the learning of new stimuli, but (3) Dnmts influence odor-coding, i.e., ‘correct’ (stimulus-specific) LTM formation. Particularly, Dnmts reduce memory specificity when experience is low (one-trial training), and increase memory specificity when experience is high (multiple-trial training), generating an ecologically more useful response to learning. (4) In reversal learning conditions, Dnmts are involved in regulating both excitatory (re-acquisition) and inhibitory (forgetting) processes. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5018481 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2016 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-50184812016-09-26 DNA Methylation Adjusts the Specificity of Memories Depending on the Learning Context and Promotes Relearning in Honeybees Biergans, Stephanie D. Claudianos, Charles Reinhard, Judith Galizia, C. G. Front Mol Neurosci Neuroscience The activity of the epigenetic writers DNA methyltransferases (Dnmts) after olfactory reward conditioning is important for both stimulus-specific long-term memory (LTM) formation and extinction. It, however, remains unknown which components of memory formation Dnmts regulate (e.g., associative vs. non-associative) and in what context (e.g., varying training conditions). Here, we address these aspects in order to clarify the role of Dnmt-mediated DNA methylation in memory formation. We used a pharmacological Dnmt inhibitor and classical appetitive conditioning in the honeybee Apis mellifera, a well characterized model for classical conditioning. We quantified the effect of DNA methylation on naïve odor and sugar responses, and on responses following olfactory reward conditioning. We show that (1) Dnmts do not influence naïve odor or sugar responses, (2) Dnmts do not affect the learning of new stimuli, but (3) Dnmts influence odor-coding, i.e., ‘correct’ (stimulus-specific) LTM formation. Particularly, Dnmts reduce memory specificity when experience is low (one-trial training), and increase memory specificity when experience is high (multiple-trial training), generating an ecologically more useful response to learning. (4) In reversal learning conditions, Dnmts are involved in regulating both excitatory (re-acquisition) and inhibitory (forgetting) processes. Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-09-12 /pmc/articles/PMC5018481/ /pubmed/27672359 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2016.00082 Text en Copyright © 2016 Biergans, Claudianos, Reinhard and Galizia. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Neuroscience Biergans, Stephanie D. Claudianos, Charles Reinhard, Judith Galizia, C. G. DNA Methylation Adjusts the Specificity of Memories Depending on the Learning Context and Promotes Relearning in Honeybees |
title | DNA Methylation Adjusts the Specificity of Memories Depending on the Learning Context and Promotes Relearning in Honeybees |
title_full | DNA Methylation Adjusts the Specificity of Memories Depending on the Learning Context and Promotes Relearning in Honeybees |
title_fullStr | DNA Methylation Adjusts the Specificity of Memories Depending on the Learning Context and Promotes Relearning in Honeybees |
title_full_unstemmed | DNA Methylation Adjusts the Specificity of Memories Depending on the Learning Context and Promotes Relearning in Honeybees |
title_short | DNA Methylation Adjusts the Specificity of Memories Depending on the Learning Context and Promotes Relearning in Honeybees |
title_sort | dna methylation adjusts the specificity of memories depending on the learning context and promotes relearning in honeybees |
topic | Neuroscience |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5018481/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27672359 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2016.00082 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT biergansstephanied dnamethylationadjuststhespecificityofmemoriesdependingonthelearningcontextandpromotesrelearninginhoneybees AT claudianoscharles dnamethylationadjuststhespecificityofmemoriesdependingonthelearningcontextandpromotesrelearninginhoneybees AT reinhardjudith dnamethylationadjuststhespecificityofmemoriesdependingonthelearningcontextandpromotesrelearninginhoneybees AT galiziacg dnamethylationadjuststhespecificityofmemoriesdependingonthelearningcontextandpromotesrelearninginhoneybees |