Post-training intra-basolateral amygdala infusions of norepinephrine enhance consolidation of memory for contextual fear conditioning

Ryan T LaLumiere; Thea-Vanessa Buen; James L McGaugh

doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-17-06754.2003

Back

Post-training intra-basolateral amygdala infusions of norepinephrine enhance consolidation of memory for contextual fear conditioning

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Post-training intra-basolateral amygdala infusions of norepinephrine enhance consolidation of memory for contextual fear conditioning

Ryan T LaLumiere, Thea-Vanessa Buen and James L McGaugh

The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.23(17), pp.6754-6758

07/30/2003

DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-17-06754.2003

PMCID: PMC6740722

PMID: 12890768

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-17-06754.2003View

Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Post-training infusions of drugs, including noradrenergic agonists and antagonists, into the basolateral amygdala (BLA) influence the consolidation of memory for training in several tasks, including inhibitory avoidance. There is, however, conflicting evidence concerning whether post-training intra-BLA drug infusions modulate the consolidation of contextual fear conditioning (CFC). In the present study, norepinephrine (NE) was infused bilaterally into the BLA of male Sprague Dawley rats immediately after training on two CFC tasks: a Y-maze and a straight alley. Post-training intra-BLA infusions enhanced memory of CFC training in the Y-maze, as assessed by percentage of time spent freezing and shock arm entrance latencies. Post-training intra-BLA infusions of NE enhanced 48 hr retention of CFC training in the straight alley, as assessed by shock compartment entrance latencies and the number of shocks required to learn to avoid entering the shock compartment. These findings indicate that the consolidation of memory for CFC, like that for inhibitory avoidance training, is influenced by post-training neuromodulatory influences within the BLA. Thus, the findings provide additional evidence consistent with the hypothesis that the BLA has a general role in modulating memory consolidation.

Memory - drug effects

Drug Administration Routes

Norepinephrine - pharmacology

Amygdala - drug effects

Maze Learning - physiology

Conditioning (Psychology) - physiology

Retention (Psychology) - drug effects

Rats

Behavior, Animal - physiology

Male

Avoidance Learning - physiology

Reaction Time - physiology

Fear - physiology

Retention (Psychology) - physiology

Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Animals

Reaction Time - drug effects

Behavior, Animal - drug effects

Avoidance Learning - drug effects

Amygdala - physiology

Electroshock

Memory - physiology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Post-training intra-basolateral amygdala infusions of norepinephrine enhance consolidation of memory for contextual fear conditioning
Creators: Ryan T LaLumiere - Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3800, USA. rlalumie@uci.edu
Thea-Vanessa Buen
James L McGaugh
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.23(17), pp.6754-6758
Publisher: United States
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-17-06754.2003
PMID: 12890768
PMCID: PMC6740722
ISSN: 0270-6474
eISSN: 1529-2401
Grant note: MH15256 / NIMH NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 07/30/2003
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984070464502771

Metrics

19 Record Views

164 Times Cited - Web of Science

See more details