Study of Plastic Changes Induced by Associative Learning in The Auditory Cortex Using Optical Imaging and Their Neural Mechanisms

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The purpose of this study is to clarify how a memory based on associative learning is recorded and retained in the cortex, and moreover how a memory retained in the cortex is spatio-temporally represented in the cortex when it is retrieved. The plastic changes in the guinea pig auditory cortex induced by a classical conditioning, through pairing a sound with an electric foot-shock, were investigated using an optical imaging, as a result, it was found that the response area to the frequency used for the conditioning enlarged after the short term training. Moreover, after conditioning, the mere presentation of a foot-shock without any sound succeeded in eliciting activity in the auditory cortex, implying that auditory information could be retrieved on the basis of an electric foot-shock.