Astrocyte-neuron interaction during one-trial aversive learning in the
neonate chick.
Hertz L, Gibbs ME, O'Dowd BS, Sedman GL, Robinson SR, Sykova E, Hajek I,
Hertz E, Peng L, Huang R, Ng KT
Department of Pharmacology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
During two specific stages of the Gibbs-Ng model of one-trial aversive
learning in the neonate chick, we have recently found unequivocal evidence
for a crucial involvement of astrocytes. This evidence is metabolic (utilization
of the astrocyte-specific energy store, glycogen, during normal learning
and inhibition of memory formation by the astrocyte specific metabolic
inhibitors, fluoroacetate and methionine sulfoximine) as well as physiological
(abolition of memory formation in the presence of ethacrynic acid, an astrocyte-specific
inhibitor of cellular reaccumulation of potassium ions). These findings
are discussed in the present review in the framework of a more comprehensive
description of metabolic and physiological neuronal-astrocytic interactions
across an interstitial (extracellular) space bounded by minute processes
from either cell type.
