ИСТИНА

This study explores the impact of past experiences on resting state brain networks in animals, particularly focusing on the difference between naive mice and those subjected to contextual fear conditioning. We analyzed the resting activity of 41 brain regions, observing significant changes in brain activity 24 hours post-learning. Mice with associative learning experience showed a notable increase in c-Fos-positive cells in specific brain areas known for their role in fear memory formation, such as the prelimbic, retrosplenial, and temporal associative cortex, alongside various amygdala nuclei. Further analysis using correlation methods and graph theory revealed that learning alters the resting state networks' structure, significantly affecting brain connectivity. The learning group exhibited a general decrease in connection strength and the number of connections across the brain, suggesting that associative learning experiences induce more variable resting state networks. While naive mice had more connections within sensory and basal nuclei areas, trained mice displayed enhanced connectivity in regions associated with memory and emotional processing, like the hippocampus, amygdala, and associative cortices. Notably, training drastically increased the amygdala's functional connectivity, from minimal connections in naive mice to extensive connections with various brain regions in trained mice. Similarly, the hippocampus showed a significant rise in functional connections post-training. Our findings reveal that associative learning can profoundly influence the spatial-temporal dynamics of resting state neural networks, suggesting long-lasting alterations in spontaneous brain activity and connectivity patterns following a learning event. Supported by "INTELLECT" Foundation and by RSF 20-15-00283.