Perineuronal nets protect fear memories from erasure.

Full Abstract

In adult animals, fear conditioning induces a permanent memory that is resilient to erasure by extinction. In contrast, during early postnatal development, extinction of conditioned fear leads to memory erasure, suggesting that fear memories are actively protected in adults. We show here that this protection is conferred by extracellular matrix chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) in the amygdala. The organization of CSPGs into perineuronal nets (PNNs) coincided with the developmental switch in fear memory resilience. In adults, degradation of PNNs by chondroitinase ABC specifically rendered subsequently acquired fear memories susceptible to erasure. This result indicates that intact PNNs mediate the formation of erasure-resistant fear memories and identifies a molecular mechanism closing a postnatal critical period during which traumatic memories can be erased by extinction.

Author information

Author/s: Gogolla, Nadine (N); Caroni, Pico (P); Lüthi, Andreas (A); Herry, Cyril (C);

Affiliation: Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Maulbeerstrasse 66, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Science (New York, N.Y.) (Science), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 325 (issue 5945) : pp 1258-61

Dates: Created 2009/09/04; Completed 2009/09/18;

PMID: 19729657, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 9/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: Science. 2009 Sep 4;325(5945):1214-5. (PMID: 19729646)

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