Passive avoidance training decreases neurogenesis in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area of young domestic chicks

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Passive avoidance training decreases neurogenesis in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area of young domestic chicks Szilvia Mezey1*, Gergely Zachar1 and Andras Csillag1 1 Department of Anatomy , Semmelweis University, Hungary We performed a quantitative analysis of the postnatal formation of new cells in two midbrain nuclei of young domestic chicks 24 hours following passive avoidance learning. Two groups of one-day-old chicks were presented with a bead coated in water (PALW) or the aversive substance metylanthranilate (MeA). MeA chicks learned to associate the bead with the aversive taste and avoided it during the test of learning. The animals were sacrificed immediately after the test. The substantia nigra (SN) and the ventral tegmental area (AVT) have been reported to take part in the motivational and motor processes of passive avoidance learning. Since learning has been reported to generally increase neurogenesis in the forebrain, we used bromodeoxy-uridine (BrdU) immuhohistochemistry to label newly generated cells in the SN and AVT to assess the effects of passive avoidance learning on cell proliferation in midbrain areas as well. Our results show that passive avoidance training decreases cell proliferation in the midbrain dopaminergic nuclei SN and AVT. In the AVT, the density of newly generated cells was significantly reduced in both trained groups compared to the control group, which did not receive training. There was a similar trend in the SN, where the density of BrdU+ cells was (not significantly) reduced in both the PALW and the MeA group. The decrease in cell proliferation in the SN and AVT shows an opposite effect of learning on cell proliferation in these midbrain areas than in most areas of the forebrain. Conference: 12th Meeting of the Hungarian Neuroscience Society, Budapest, Hungary, 22 Jan - 24 Jan, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Behavioural neuroscience Citation: Mezey S, Zachar G and Csillag A (2009). Passive avoidance training decreases neurogenesis in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area of young domestic chicks. Front. Syst. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: 12th Meeting of the Hungarian Neuroscience Society. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.01.2009.04.099 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 03 Mar 2009; Published Online: 03 Mar 2009. * Correspondence: Szilvia Mezey, Department of Anatomy , Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary, .szilvi_mezey@yahoo.co.uk Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Szilvia Mezey Gergely Zachar Andras Csillag Google Szilvia Mezey Gergely Zachar Andras Csillag Google Scholar Szilvia Mezey Gergely Zachar Andras Csillag PubMed Szilvia Mezey Gergely Zachar Andras Csillag Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.