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Variant BDNF Val66Met polymorphism affects extinction of conditioned aversive memory
Yu H, Wang Y, Pattwell S, Jing D, Liu T, Zhang Y, Bath KG, Lee FS et al.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2009-04-01
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays important roles in activity-dependent plasticity processes, such as long-term potentiation, learning, and memory. The recently reported human BDNF Val66Met (BDNF(Met)) polymorphism has been shown to lead to altered hippocampal volume and impaired hippocampal-dependent memory and is associated with a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. There are few studies, however, that investigate the effect of the BDNF(Met) polymorphism on hippocampal-independent memory processes. A conditioned taste aversion (CTA) task was used for studying the mechanisms of long-term, hippocampal-independent, nondeclarative memory in the mammalian brain. Using the CTA paradigm, we found a novel impairment in extinction learning, but not acquisition or retention, of aversive memories resulting from the variant BDNF(Met). BDNF(Met) mice were slower to extinguish an aversive CTA memory compared with wild-type counterparts. Moreover, the BDNF(Met) was associated with smaller volume and decreased neuronal dendritic complexity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which plays a significant role in extinction of CTA. Finally, this delay in extinction learning could be rescued pharmacologically with a cognitive enhancer, d-cycloserine (DCS). To our knowledge, this is the first evidence that the BDNF(Met) polymorphism contributes to abnormalities in memory extinction. This abnormality in extinction learning may be explained by alterations in neuronal morphology, as well as decreased neural activity in the vmPFC. Importantly, DCS was effective in rescuing this delay in extinction, suggesting that when coupled with behavior therapy, DCS may be an effective treatment option for anxiety disorders in humans with this genetic variant BDNF.
Key findings
- The recently reported human BDNF Val66Met (BDNF(Met)) polymorphism has been shown to lead to altered hippocampal volume and impaired hippocampal-dependent memory and is associated with a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders.
- Using the CTA paradigm, we found a novel impairment in extinction learning, but not acquisition or retention, of aversive memories resulting from the variant BDNF(Met).
- BDNF(Met) mice were slower to extinguish an aversive CTA memory compared with wild-type counterparts.
- Moreover, the BDNF(Met) was associated with smaller volume and decreased neuronal dendritic complexity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which plays a significant role in extinction of CTA.
- Importantly, DCS was effective in rescuing this delay in extinction, suggesting that when coupled with behavior therapy, DCS may be an effective treatment option for anxiety disorders in humans with this genetic variant BDNF.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 36/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 36 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2009 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 19339601) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 21 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 36 out of 100. |
| Total | 36 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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APA 7th
Yu, H., Wang, Y., Pattwell, S., Jing, D., Liu, T., Zhang, Y., et al. (2009). Variant BDNF Val66Met polymorphism affects extinction of conditioned aversive memory. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.5539-08.2009
Vancouver
Yu H, Wang Y, Pattwell S, Jing D, Liu T, Zhang Y, et al. Variant BDNF Val66Met polymorphism affects extinction of conditioned aversive memory. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 2009. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.5539-08.2009. PMID: 19339601.
BibTeX
@article{yu2009-19339601,
author = {Yu, H. and Wang, Y. and Pattwell, S. and Jing, D. and Liu, T. and Zhang, Y. and Bath, K. G. and Lee, F. S. and others},
title = {{Variant BDNF Val66Met polymorphism affects extinction of conditioned aversive memory}},
journal = {The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience},
year = {2009},
doi = {10.1523/jneurosci.5539-08.2009},
pmid = {19339601},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.5539-08.2009}
}
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