Abstract
Introduction. The involvement of the striatal system in S-R learning is usually based on neural plasticity related to immediate early-genes (IEGs). Previous studies also have shown that the dorsal striatum plays a role in tone fear conditioning (TFC). Objectives. Given that IEg expression in dorsal striatum supports S-R learning we analyzed early molecular consolidation events in the striatum by measuring the protein levels of the EGR1, C-Fos, and Arc in the striatum 30 and 90 minutes after the TFC training. Additionally, to minimize a dorsal hippocampal possible interference, glutamatergic transmission was disrupted during fear conditioning training using the NMDA receptor antagonist AP5 injection into hippocampus. Method. Wistar rats received AP5 or saline injection in the hippocampus five minutes before undergoing tone fear conditioning (tone and foot-shock pairings) or tone only. Results. Animals that received tone and footshock pairings presented a decrease in ARC protein 30 minutes after training when compared to the tone groups. AP5 treated group exposed to tone only condition presented a decrease in EGR protein 90 minutes after training when compared to the saline and tone. No differences were observed in FOS protein levels. Conclusions. Our results suggest that it is possible that some interaction between striatum and hippocampus in processing tone experience and that reduced levels of ARC could be related to the associative features of this pavlovian task.
Highlights
The involvement of the striatal system in S-R learning is usually based on neural plasticity related to immediate early-genes (IEGs)
Our results suggest that it is possible that some interaction between striatum and hippocampus in processing tone experience and that reduced levels of ARC could be related to the associative features of this pavlovian task
In the analysis performed in the striatum by western blot, no protein levels alterations were observed for EGR1 (Figure 1A)
Summary
The involvement of the striatal system in S-R learning is usually based on neural plasticity related to immediate early-genes (IEGs). There is extensive evidence of the involvement of the striatal system in learning and memory processes, mainly in the acquisition of habits1-4 These studies showed that response and cue learning are usually associated with the striatum. Damaging this structure in rats impairs learning in mazes that require a response solution. Learning in the cue version of the water maze task, but not in the hidden platform spatial version3 These data suggest that the hippocampus and the dorsal striatum are parts of systems that differ in the type of memory they mediate. These striatal dependent tasks involve stimulus-response (SR) learning
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