TY - JOUR TI - The role of gamma oscillations in the modulation of memory consolidation by emotions DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-8yrd-n563 PY - 2019 AB - Our everyday experiences, even for mundane events, can form long-lasting memories. While newly formed memories are labile at first, with time they may become permanent and resistant to forgetting. This process is called memory consolidation. For declarative memories, consolidation is thought to involve interactions between the neocortex and hippocampus during offline states such as sleep. Besides strengthening with time, memory consolidation is also influenced by emotional arousal. The facilitating effect of emotions on consolidation is mediated by the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and its strong projections to both the hippocampus and neocortex. In contrast to the extensive investigations of the electrophysiological mechanisms supporting systems consolidation between the hippocampus and neocortex, there has not been a comparable advancement in our understanding of the BLA’s role. However, what is known is that the BLA generates robust gamma oscillations during emotional arousal, which can facilitate interregional interactions. In order to provide a unified understanding of memory consolidation, I examined how the consolidation of emotional experiences affects the interactions between the BLA, hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a neocortical area linked to consolidation. In particular, I studied how gamma-related activity is affected after emotional learning. I then directly tested whether gamma oscillations in the BLA support consolidation, by using real-time optogenetic manipulation of these oscillations in the post-training consolidation period. My results show that gamma oscillations mediate the emotional facilitation of memory consolidation. KW - Neuroscience KW - Memory consolidation LA - English ER -