Social support and fear-inhibition: an examination of underlying neural mechanisms

Recent work has demonstrated that reminders of those we are closest to have a unique combination of effects on fear learning and represent a new category of fear inhibitors, termed prepared fear suppressors. Notably, social-support-figure images have been shown to resist becoming associated with fear, suppress conditional-fear-responding and lead to long-term fear reduction. Due to the novelty of this category, understanding the underlying neural mechanisms that support these unique abilities of social-support-reminders has yet to be investigated. Here, we examined the neural correlates that enable social-support-reminders to resist becoming associated with fear during a retardation-of-acquisition test. We found that social-support-figure-images (vs stranger-images) were less readily associated with fear, replicating prior work, and that this effect was associated with decreased amygdala activity and increased ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) activity for social-support-figure-images (vs stranger-images), suggesting that social-support-engagement of the VMPFC and consequent inhibition of the amygdala may contribute to unique their inhibitory effects. Connectivity analyses supported this interpretation, showing greater connectivity between the VMPFC and left amygdala for social-support-figure-images (vs stranger-images).

No effect of glucose administration in a novel contextual fear generalization protocol in rats

The excessive transfer of fear acquired for one particular context to similar situations has been implicated in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Recent evidence suggests that glucose ingestion improves the retention of context conditioning. It has been speculated that glucose might exert that effect by ameliorating hippocampal functioning, and may hold promise as a therapeutic add-on in traumatized patients because improved retention of contextual fear could help to restrict its generalization. However, direct data regarding the effect of glucose on contextual generalization are lacking. Here, we introduce a new behavioral protocol to study such contextual fear generalization in rats. In adult Wistar rats, our procedure yields a gradient of generalization, with progressively less freezing when going from the original training context, over a perceptually similar generalization context, to a markedly dissimilar context. Moreover, we find a flattening of the gradient when the training-test interval is prolonged with 1 week. We next examine the effect of systemic glucose administration on contextual generalization with this novel procedure. Our data do not sustain generalization-reducing effects of glucose and question its applicability in traumatic situations. In summary, we have developed a replicable contextual generalization procedure for rats and demonstrate how it is a valuable tool to examine the neurobiological correlates and test pharmacological interventions pertaining to an important mechanism in the etiology of pathological anxiety.

Inhaled anesthetic responses of recombinant receptors and knockin mice harboring α2(S270H/L277A) GABA(A) receptor subunits that are resistant to isoflurane

The mechanism by which the inhaled anesthetic isoflurane produces amnesia and immobility is not understood. Isoflurane modulates GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)-Rs) in a manner that makes them plausible targets. We asked whether GABA(A)-R α2 subunits contribute to a site of anesthetic action in vivo. Previous studies demonstrated that Ser270 in the second transmembrane domain is involved in the modulation of GABA(A)-Rs by volatile anesthetics and alcohol, either as a binding site or a critical allosteric residue. We engineered GABA(A)-Rs with two mutations in the α2 subunit, changing Ser270 to His and Leu277 to Ala. Recombinant receptors with these mutations demonstrated normal affinity for GABA, but substantially reduced responses to isoflurane. We then produced mutant (knockin) mice in which this mutated subunit replaced the wild-type α2 subunit. The adult mutant mice were overtly normal, although there was evidence of enhanced neonatal mortality and fear conditioning. Electrophysiological recordings from dentate granule neurons in brain slices confirmed the decreased actions of isoflurane on mutant receptors contributing to inhibitory synaptic currents. The loss of righting reflex EC(50) for isoflurane did not differ between genotypes, but time to regain the righting reflex was increased in N(2) generation knockins. This effect was not observed at the N(4) generation. Isoflurane produced immobility (as measured by tail clamp) and amnesia (as measured by fear conditioning) in both wild-type and mutant mice, and potencies (EC(50)) did not differ between the strains for these actions of isoflurane. Thus, immobility or amnesia does not require isoflurane potentiation of the α2 subunit.

Trace and contextual fear conditioning is enhanced in mice lacking the alpha4 subunit of the GABA(A) receptor

The GABA(A)R alpha4 subunit is highly expressed in the dentate gyrus region of the hippocampus at predominantly extra synaptic locations where, along with the GABA(A)R delta subunit, it forms GABA(A) receptors that mediate a tonic inhibitory current. The present study was designed to test hippocampus-dependent and hippocampus-independent learning and memory in GABA(A)R alpha4 subunit-deficient mice using trace and delay fear conditioning, respectively. Mice were of a mixed C57Bl/6J X 129S1/X1 genetic background from alpha4 heterozygous breeding pairs. The alpha4-knockout mice showed enhanced trace and contextual fear conditioning consistent with an enhancement of hippocampus-dependent learning and memory. These enhancements were sex-dependent, similar to previous studies in GABA(A)R delta knockout mice, but differences were present in both males and females. The convergent findings between alpha4 and delta knockout mice suggests that tonic inhibition mediated by alpha4betadelta GABA(A) receptors negatively modulates learning and memory processes and provides further evidence that tonic inhibition makes important functional contributions to learning and behavior.

Amygdala-dependent and amygdala-independent pathways for contextual fear conditioning

The basolateral amygdala (BLA), consisting of the lateral and basal nuclei, is considered to be essential for fear learning. Using a temporary inactivation technique, we found that rats could acquire a context-specific long-term fear memory without the BLA but only if intensive overtraining was used. BLA-inactivated rats' learning curves were characterized by slow learning that eventually achieved the same asymptotic performance as rats with the BLA functional. BLA inactivation abolished expression of overtrained fear when rats were overtrained with a functional BLA. However, BLA-inactivation had no effect on the expression of fear in rats that learned while the BLA was inactivated. These data suggest that there are primary and alternate pathways capable of mediating fear. Normally, learning is dominated by the more efficient primary pathway, which prevents learning in the alternate pathway. However, alternate pathways compensate when the dominant pathway is compromised.

Cholinergic modulation of pavlovian fear conditioning: effects of intrahippocampal scopolamine infusion

Cholinergic neurotransmission has been implicated in the acquisition of a variety of tasks, including Pavlovian fear conditioning. To more precisely define the role of cholinergic modulation in this process, the effect of site-specific cholinergic antagonism was assessed. Male Long-Evans rats were implanted with chronic, bilateral cannulae aimed at the dorsal hippocampus. Infusions of scopolamine hydrobromide (50 microg bilaterally) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) were made immediately prior to a signaled Pavlovian fear conditioning procedure. On consecutive days following training, all rats were given independent tests assessing freezing to both the training context and the tone conditional stimulus (CS). Relative to PBS infused controls, rats that received intrahippocampal infusions of scopolamine showed a significant attenuation of contextual freezing but comparable levels of freezing to the tone CS. Neither shock sensitivity nor general activity levels differed between rats infused with scopolamine or PBS. These findings suggest that fear conditioning to context, but not discrete CS, requires intact cholinergic neurotransmission in the hippocampus.

Hippocampus and contextual fear conditioning: recent controversies and advances

Dorsal hippocampal (DH) lesions produce a severe deficit in recently, but not remotely, acquired contextual fear without impairing memory of discrete training stimuli, i.e., DH lesions produce an anterograde and time-limited retrograde amnesia specific to contextual memory. These data are consistent with the standard model which posits temporary involvement of the hippocampus in recent memory maintenance. However, three recent controversies apparently weaken the case for a selective mnemonic role for the hippocampus in contextual fear. First, although retrograde amnesia (from posttraining lesions) is severe, anterograde amnesia (from pretraining lesions) may be mild or nonexistent. Second, a performance, rather than mnemonic, account of contextual freezing deficits in hippocampal-lesioned animals has been offered. Third, damage to the entire hippocampus, including the ventral hippocampus, can produce a dramatic and temporally stable disruption of context and tone fear. These data are reviewed and explanations are offered as to why they do not necessarily challenge the standard model of hippocampal memory function in contextual fear. Finally, a more complete description of the hippocampus' proposed role in contextual fear is offered, along with new data supporting this view. In summary, the data support a specific mnemonic role for the DH in the acquisition and consolidation of contextual representations.

The concentration of isoflurane required to suppress learning depends on the type of learning

BACKGROUND

Recent reports suggest that one type of learning, fear conditioning to context, requires more neural processing than a related type, fear conditioning to tone. To determine whether these types of learning were differentially affected by anesthesia, the authors applied isoflurane during the training phases of fear conditioning paradigms for freezing to context and freezing to tone.

METHODS

The authors trained seven groups of eight rats to fear tone by administering a tone (conditioned stimulus) while breathing various concentrations of isoflurane from 0.00 to 0.75 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC; one concentration per group) separated by 0.12-MAC steps. On the succeeding day, and in the absence of isoflurane, the authors presented the tone (without shock) in a different context (different cage shape and odor) and measured the time each rat froze (became immobile). Six other groups of eight rats were trained to fear context by applying the shock in the absence of a tone but in the presence of environmental cues such as cage shape, texture, and odor. Fear to context was determined the succeeding day by returning the rat to the training cage (without shock) and measuring duration of freezing. Control groups (16 per group) received 0.75 MAC isoflurane but no foot shocks. Group scores were compared using analysis of variance, and the ED50 values for quantal responses of individual rats were calculated using logistic regression.

RESULTS

Conditioning to context occurred at 0.00 and 0.13 MAC (P < 0.05 compared with unshocked control) but not 0.25 MAC; the ED50 was 0.25 +/- 0.03 MAC (mean +/- SEM). In contrast, conditioning to tone occurred at 0.48 MAC (P < 0.05) but not 0.62 MAC; the ED50 was 0.47 +/- 0.02 MAC (P < 0.01 for the difference between ED50 values).

CONCLUSIONS

Suppression of fear conditioning to tone required approximately twice the isoflurane concentration that suppressed fear conditioning to context. Thus, the concentration of anesthetic required to suppress learning may depend on the neural substrates of learning. Our results suggest that isoflurane concentrations greater than 0.5 MAC may be needed to suppress both forms of fear conditioning.

Sex differences, context preexposure, and the immediate shock deficit in Pavlovian context conditioning with mice

The acquisition of context fear in rats is affected by variables such as the sex of the animal, the placement to shock interval (PSI), and preexposure to the context. The current experiments assessed the effects of these variables on context conditioning in mice (C57BL/6). In Experiment 1, mice were placed in a chamber and received a single shock 5s, 20 s, 40s, 60s, 180s, or 720s later. Increasing the PSI produced corresponding increases in conditional freezing during the context test. In addition, male mice acquired more context conditioning than female mice did but only at intermediate PSIs. In Experiment 2, preexposure to the context before training alleviated the sex difference found with an intermediate PSI. The results are discussed in terms of configural learning theory and are argued to be contrary to the predictions of scalar expectancy theory.

Body temperature as a conditional response measure for pavlovian fear conditioning

On six days rats were exposed to each of two contexts. They received an electric shock in one context and nothing in the other. Rats were tested later in each environment without shock. The rats froze and defecated more often in the shock-paired environment; they also exhibited a significantly larger elevation in rectal temperature in that environment. The rats discriminated between each context, and we suggest that the elevation in temperature is the consequence of associative learning. Thus, body temperature can be used as a conditional response measure in Pavlovian fear conditioning experiments that use footshock as the unconditional stimulus.

Contextual fear, gestalt memories, and the hippocampus

This review examines the relationship between exploration and contextual fear conditioning. The fear acquired to places or contexts associated with aversive events is a form of Pavlovian conditioning. However, an initial period of exploration is necessary to allow the animal to form an integrated memory of the features of the context before conditioning can take place. The hippocampal formation plays a critical role in this process. Cells within the dorsal hippocampus are involved in the formation, storage and consolidation of this integrated representation of context. Projections from the subiculum to the nucleus accumbens regulate the exploration necessary for the acquisition of information about the features of the context. This model explains why electrolytic but not excitotoxic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus cause enhanced exploratory activity but both cause deficits in contextual fear. It also explains why retrograde amnesia of contextual fear is greater than anterograde amnesia.

Mouse model of Sanfilippo syndrome type B produced by targeted disruption of the gene encoding alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase

The Sanfilippo syndrome type B is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutation in the gene (NAGLU) encoding alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase, a lysosomal enzyme required for the stepwise degradation of heparan sulfate. The most serious manifestations are profound mental retardation, intractable behavior problems, and death in the second decade. To generate a model for studies of pathophysiology and of potential therapy, we disrupted exon 6 of Naglu, the homologous mouse gene. Naglu-/- mice were healthy and fertile while young and could survive for 8-12 mo. They were totally deficient in alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase and had massive accumulation of heparan sulfate in liver and kidney as well as secondary changes in activity of several other lysosomal enzymes in liver and brain and elevation of gangliosides G(M2) and G(M3) in brain. Vacuolation was seen in many cells, including macrophages, epithelial cells, and neurons, and became more prominent with age. Although most vacuoles contained finely granular material characteristic of glycosaminoglycan accumulation, large pleiomorphic inclusions were seen in some neurons and pericytes in the brain. Abnormal hypoactive behavior was manifested by 4.5-mo-old Naglu-/- mice in an open field test; the hyperactivity that is characteristic of affected children was not observed even in younger mice. In a Pavlovian fear conditioning test, the 4.5-mo-old mutant mice showed normal response to context, indicating intact hippocampal-dependent learning, but reduced response to a conditioning tone, perhaps attributable to hearing impairment. The phenotype of the alpha-N-acetylglucosaminidase-deficient mice is sufficiently similar to that of patients with the Sanfilippo syndrome type B to make these mice a good model for study of pathophysiology and for development of therapy.

Scopolamine and Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats: dose-effect analysis

Muscarinic-cholinergic antagonism produces learning and memory deficits in a wide variety of hippocampal-dependent tasks. Hippocampal lesions produce both acquisition deficits and retrograde amnesia of contextual fear (fear of the place of conditioning), but do not impact fear conditioning to discrete cues (such as a tone). In order to examine the effects of muscarinic antagonism in this paradigm, rats were given 0.01 to 100 mg/kg of scopolamine (or methylscopolamine) either before or after a fear conditioning session in which tones were paired with aversive footshocks. Fear to the context and the tone were assessed by measuring freezing in separate tests. It was found that pretraining, but not post-training, scopolamine severely impaired fear conditioning; methylscopolamine was ineffective in disrupting conditioning. Although contextual fear conditioning was more sensitive to cholinergic disruption, high doses of scopolamine also disrupted tone conditioning. Scopolamine did not affect footshock reactivity, but did produce high levels of activity. However, hyperactivity was not directly responsible for deficits in conditioning. It was concluded that scopolamine disrupts CS-US association formation or CS processing, perhaps through an attenuation of hippocampal theta rhythm.

Attenuated sensitivity to neuroactive steroids in gamma-aminobutyrate type A receptor delta subunit knockout mice

gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptors mediate fast inhibitory synaptic transmission and have been implicated in responses to sedative/hypnotic agents (including neuroactive steroids), anxiety, and learning and memory. Using gene targeting technology, we generated a strain of mice deficient in the delta subunit of the GABA type A receptors. In vivo testing of various behavioral responses revealed a strikingly selective attenuation of responses to neuroactive steroids, but not to other modulatory drugs. Electrophysiological recordings from hippocampal slices revealed a significantly faster miniature inhibitory postsynaptic current decay time in null mice, with no change in miniature inhibitory postsynaptic current amplitude or frequency. Learning and memory assessed with fear conditioning were normal. These results begin to illuminate the novel contributions of the delta subunit to GABA pharmacology and sedative/hypnotic responses and behavior and provide insights into the physiology of neurosteroids.

Anxiety: at the intersection of genes and experience

Human anxiety disorders arise from a combination of genetic vulnerability and traumatic experience. Mice with a GABAA receptor mutation may provide a model for these disorders.

The neuroanatomical and neurochemical basis of conditioned fear

After a few pairings of a threatening stimulus with a formerly neutral cue, animals and humans will experience a state of conditioned fear when only the cue is present. Conditioned fear provides a critical survival-related function in the face of threat by activating a range of protective behaviors. The present review summarizes and compares the results of different laboratories investigating the neuroanatomical and neurochemical basis of conditioned fear, focusing primarily on the behavioral models of freezing and fear-potentiated startle in rats. On the basis of these studies, we describe the pathways mediating and modulating fear. We identify several key unanswered questions and discuss possible implications for the understanding of human anxiety disorders.

Temporally graded retrograde amnesia of contextual fear after hippocampal damage in rats: within-subjects examination

We have shown previously that electrolytic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus (DH) produce a severe deficit in contextual fear if made 1 d, but not 28 d, after fear conditioning (). As such, the hippocampus seems to play a time-limited role in the consolidation of contextual fear conditioning. Here, we examine retrograde amnesia of contextual fear produced by DH lesions in a within-subjects design. Unlike our previous reports, rats had both a remote and recent memory at the time of the lesion. Rats were given 10 tone-shock pairings in one context (remote memory) and 10 tone-shock pairings in a distinct context (with a different tone) 50 d later (recent memory), followed by DH or sham lesions 1 d later. Relative to controls, DH-lesioned rats exhibited no deficit in remote contextual fear, but recent contextual fear memory was severely impaired. They also did not exhibit deficits in tone freezing. This highly specific deficit in recent contextual memory demonstrated in a within-subjects design favors mnemonic over performance accounts of hippocampal involvement in fear. These findings also provide further support for a time-limited role of the hippocampus in memory storage.

Mice lacking the beta3 subunit of the GABAA receptor have the epilepsy phenotype and many of the behavioral characteristics of Angelman syndrome

Angelman syndrome (AS) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder resulting from a deletion/mutation in maternal chromosome 15q11-13. The genes in 15q11-13 contributing to the full array of the clinical phenotype are not fully identified. This study examines whether a loss or reduction in the GABAA receptor beta3 subunit (GABRB3) gene, contained within the AS deletion region, may contribute to the overall severity of AS. Disrupting the gabrb3 gene in mice produces electroencephalographic abnormalities, seizures, and behavior that parallel those seen in AS. The seizures that are observed in these mice showed a pharmacological response profile to antiepileptic medications similar to that observed in AS. Additionally, these mice exhibited learning and memory deficits, poor motor skills on a repetitive task, hyperactivity, and a disturbed rest-activity cycle, features all common to AS. The loss of the single gene, gabrb3, in these mice is sufficient to cause phenotypic traits that have marked similarities to the clinical features of AS, indicating that impaired expression of the GABRB3 gene in humans probably contributes to the overall phenotype of Angelman syndrome. At least one other gene, the E6-associated protein ubiquitin-protein ligase (UBE3A) gene, has been implicated in AS, so the relative contribution of the GABRB3 gene alone or in combination with other genes remains to be established.

Differential effects of neurokinin-1 receptor activation in subregions of the periaqueductal gray matter on conditional and unconditional fear behaviors in rats

Central neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptors are thought to modulate aversion, whereas the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG) is a common pathway for the integration of fear behaviors. The authors determined whether injection of an NK-1 agonist (GR73632) into subregions of the PAG would alter fear-related behaviors. Behavioral inactivity was increased by GR73632 injected into the caudodorsal PAG or the dorsal raphe. Flight behavior induced by stimulation of the dorsal PAG or by a footshock was decreased after injection of GR73632 into the dorsal PAG. Rats that had 6 pairings of a tone with a footshock after injection of GR73632 into the dorsal PAG displayed more freezing behavior than controls at the beginning of the session. However, there was no change in the shock- or the tone-induced freezing because some GR73632-treated rats, but no controls, froze during the baseline period. It is concluded that NK-1 receptors in the dorsal PAG modulate the unconditional but not the mnemonic aspects of fear behaviors.

Appetitive motivational states differ in their ability to augment aversive fear conditioning in rats (Rattus norvegicus)

The present experiments compared the effects of 2 appetitive motivational states on the acquisition of Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats (Rattus norvegicus). In Experiment 1, rats were deprived of either water or food prior to contextual fear conditioning, which consisted of the delivery of a single footshock in a novel observation chamber. Conditional fear to the contextual cues of the conditioning chamber was measured by observing freezing behavior. The results revealed that water, but not food, deprivation enhanced conditional freezing to contextual stimuli paired with footshock. Experiment 2 indicated that the different impact of food or water deprivation on the acquisition of conditional freezing was not due to differential generalization decrements during extinction testing. Together, these experiments suggest that the modulation of fear conditioning by deprivation state is specific to certain motivational systems.

Immediate-early gene expression in the amygdala following footshock stress and contextual fear conditioning

This study investigated the increase in expression in the amygdala of 2 immediate-early genes, c-fos and NGFI-A, following contextual fear conditioning. The immediate-shock freezing deficit paradigm was used to compare rats that received footshock after exploring a context to rats that received footshock immediately after placement in the chamber. The former procedure produces contextual fear conditioning while the latter does not. Rats were either handled (handled group), placed in a test chamber without receiving footshock (context-no-footshock group), received footshock immediately upon being placed in the chamber (immediate-footshock group), or received footshock after a 1 min delay (delayed-footshock group). Only the delayed-footshock group displayed a fear response (freezing behavior). Rats were sacrificed either 15 min after the experience or after a retention test 24 h later. The c-fos mRNA was increased in the medial nucleus of the amygdala in all of the groups that were placed in the test chamber. However, rats that received footshock (immediate- and delayed-footshock groups) had greater levels of c-fos mRNA expression than rats of the context-no-footshock group. The c-fos mRNA expression in the immediate- and delayed-footshock groups did not differ. However, after the retention test, the expression of c-fos mRNA in the medial nucleus of the amygdala did not differ between groups. In contrast to c-fos, NGFI-A mRNA expression in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala was greater in the delayed-footshock group than the handled and context-no-footshock groups 15 min after the footshock. This elevation in NGFI-A mRNA was not seen in the immediate-footshock group. This suggests that NGFI-A mRNA in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala may play a role in contextual fear conditioning.

Distinct regions of the periaqueductal gray are involved in the acquisition and expression of defensive responses

In fear conditioning, a rat is placed in a distinct environment and delivered footshock. The response to the footshock itself is called an activity burst and includes running, jumping, and vocalization. The fear conditioned to the distinct environment by the footshock elicits complete immobility termed freezing. Lesions of the ventral periaqueductal gray (vPAG) strongly attenuate freezing. However, lesions of the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (dlPAG) increase the amount of freezing seen to conditional fear cues acquired under conditions in which intact rats do not demonstrate much fear conditioning. To examine the necessity of these regions in the acquisition and expression of fear, we performed five experiments that examined the effects of electrolytic lesions of the dlPAG and the vPAG in learned and unlearned fear. In experiment 1, lesions of the vPAG strongly attenuated, whereas lesions of the dlPAG enhanced, unconditional freezing to a cat. In experiment 2, lesions of the dlPAG made before but not after training enhanced the amount of freezing shown to conditional fear cues acquired via immediate footshock delivery. In experiment 3, vPAG lesions made either before or after training with footshock decreased the level of freezing to conditional fear cues. Neither dlPAG lesions nor vPAG lesions affected footshock sensitivity (experiment 4) or consumption on a conditioned taste aversion test that does not elicit antipredator responses (experiment 5). On the basis of these results, it is proposed that activation of the dlPAG produces inhibition of the vPAG and forebrain structures involved with defense. In contrast, the vPAG seems to be necessary for postencounter freezing defensive behavior.

Testicular hormones do not regulate sexually dimorphic Pavlovian fear conditioning or perforant-path long-term potentiation in adult male rats

We recently reported that Pavlovian fear conditioning and hippocampal perforant-path long-term potentiation (LTP) are sexually dimorphic in rats. Males show greater contextual fear conditioning, which depends on the hippocampus, as well as greater hippocampal LTP. In order to examine the role of circulating gonadal hormones in adult male rats, animals were castrated in two experiments, and Pavlovian fear conditioning and in vivo perforant-path LTP were examined. It was found that sexually-dimorphic LTP and fear conditioning are not regulated by the activational effects of testicular hormones in adult male rats. That is, in every respect, castrated male rats were similar to intact male rats in Pavlovian fear conditioning and hippocampal LTP. It is likely that sexual dimorphism in this system is established earlier in development by the organizational effects of gonadal hormones.

Neurotoxic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus and Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats

Electrolytic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus (DH) produce deficits in both the acquisition and expression of conditional fear to contextual stimuli in rats. To assess whether damage to DH neurons is responsible for these deficits, we performed three experiments to examine the effects of neurotoxic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) lesions of the DH on the acquisition and expression of fear conditioning. Fear conditioning consisted of the delivery of signaled or unsignaled footshocks in a novel conditioning chamber and freezing served as the measure of conditional fear. In Experiment 1, posttraining DH lesions produced severe retrograde deficits in context fear when made either 1 or 28, but not 100, days following training. Pretraining DH lesions made 1 week before training did not affect contextual fear conditioning. Tone fear was impaired by DH lesions at all training-to-lesion intervals. In Experiment 2, posttraining (1 day), but not pretraining (1 week), DH lesions produced substantial deficits in context fear using an unsignaled shock procedure. In Experiment 3, pretraining electrolytic DH lesions produced modest deficits in context fear using the same signaled and unsignaled shock procedures used in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Electrolytic, but not neurotoxic, lesions also increased pre-shock locomotor activity. Collectively, this pattern of results reveals that neurons in the DH are not required for the acquisition of context fear, but have a critical and time-limited role in the expression of context fear. The normal acquisition and expression of context fear in rats with neurotoxic DH lesions made before training may be mediated by conditioning to unimodal cues in the context, a process that may rely less on the hippocampal memory system.

Selective enhancement of emotional, but not motor, learning in monoamine oxidase A-deficient mice

Mice deficient in monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), an enzyme that metabolizes monoamines such as norepinephrine and serotonin, have elevated norepinephrine and serotonin levels in the frontal cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum, compared with normal wild-type mice. Since monoamines in these areas are critically involved in a variety of behaviors, we examined learning and memory (using emotional and motor tasks) in MAOA mutant mice. The MAOA-deficient mice exhibited significantly enhanced classical fear conditioning (freezing to both tone and contextual stimuli) and step-down inhibitory avoidance learning. In contrast, eyeblink conditioning was normal in these mutant mice. The female MAOA-deficient mice also displayed normal species-typical maternal behaviors (nesting, nursing, and pup retrieval). These results suggest that chronic elevations of monoamines, due to a deletion of the gene encoding MAOA, lead to selective alterations in emotional behavior.

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in the basolateral amygdala are required for both acquisition and expression of conditional fear in rats

Three experiments examined the effects of intra-amygdaloid infusions of an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV), on contextual fear conditioning in rats. In Experiment 1, APV infusion into the basolateral amygdala (BLA), before training, disrupted the acquisition of contextual fear. In Experiment 2, APV produced a disruption of both the acquisition and expression of contextual fear. This blockade of contextual fear was not state dependent, not due to a shift in footshock sensitivity, and not the result of increased motor activity in APV-treated rats. In Experiment 3, fear conditioning was not affected by a posttraining APV infusion into the BLA. These results indicate that NMDA receptors in the BLA are necessary for both the acquisition and expression of Pavlovian fear conditioning to contextual cues in rats.

Electrolytic lesions of the fimbria/fornix, dorsal hippocampus, or entorhinal cortex produce anterograde deficits in contextual fear conditioning in rats

Recent data indicate that dorsal hippocampal (DH) lesions disrupt Pavlovian fear conditioning to contextual cues in rats. In the present study, we examined the effects of electrolytic lesions of the fimbria/fornix (FX) or entorhinal cortex (EC), the primary afferent projection systems to the DH, on contextual fear conditioning in rats. Conditioning consisted of the delivery of unsignaled footshocks in a novel observation chamber, and freezing served as the measure of conditional fear. Electrolytic lesions of the FX, DH, or EC made 1 week before training produced anterograde impairments in both immediate postshock freezing on the conditioning day and freezing during the context extinction test 24 h following training. The deficits in conditional freezing produced by FX, DH, and EC lesions were not statistically different, although the deficits in rats with FX or EC lesions tended to be more severe than those in rats with DH lesions. In addition to producing deficits in conditional freezing, FX, DH, or EC lesions produced a pronounced locomotor hyperactivity. Within the lesion and sham groups, however, locomotor activity was not significantly correlated with conditional freezing. These results indicate that contextual fear deficits in rats with hippocampal formation damage are equivalent following either FX, DH, or EC lesions. The relationship of freezing deficits and locomotor hyperactivity in rats with hippocampal formation lesions is discussed.

Retrograde abolition of conditional fear after excitotoxic lesions in the basolateral amygdala of rats: absence of a temporal gradient

The role of the basolateral amygdala (LA) in the acquisition and expression of Pavlovian fear conditioning was examined in 80 rats. Excitotoxic lesions were made in the BLA using N-methyl-D-aspartate 7 days before or 1, 14, or 28 days after Pavlovian fear conditioning. Conditioning consisted of three pairings of a tone with an aversive footshock in a novel chamber, and freezing behavior served as an index of conditional fear. BLA lesions abolished conditional freezing to both the contextual and acoustic conditional stimuli at all training-to-lesion intervals, and the magnitude of the impairment did not vary as a function of the training-to-lesion interval. Reacquisition training elevated levels of freezing in rats with BLA lesions but did not reduce the magnitude of their deficit in relation to that of controls. These results reveal that neurons in the BLA have an enduring role in the expression of conditional fear.

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in the basolateral amygdala are required for both acquisition and expression of conditional fear in rats

Three experiments examined the effects of intra-amygdaloid infusions of an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV), on contextual fear conditioning in rats. In Experiment 1, APV infusion into the basolateral amygdala (BLA), before training, disrupted the acquisition of contextual fear. In Experiment 2, APV produced a disruption of both the acquisition and expression of contextual fear. This blockade of contextual fear was not state dependent, not due to a shift in footshock sensitivity, and not the result of increased motor activity in APV-treated rats. In Experiment 3, fear conditioning was not affected by a posttraining APV infusion into the BLA. These results indicate that NMDA receptors in the BLA are necessary for both the acquisition and expression of Pavlovian fear conditioning to contextual cues in rats.

Retrograde abolition of conditional fear after excitotoxic lesions in the basolateral amygdala of rats: absence of a temporal gradient

The role of the basolateral amygdala (LA) in the acquisition and expression of Pavlovian fear conditioning was examined in 80 rats. Excitotoxic lesions were made in the BLA using N-methyl-D-aspartate 7 days before or 1, 14, or 28 days after Pavlovian fear conditioning. Conditioning consisted of three pairings of a tone with an aversive footshock in a novel chamber, and freezing behavior served as an index of conditional fear. BLA lesions abolished conditional freezing to both the contextual and acoustic conditional stimuli at all training-to-lesion intervals, and the magnitude of the impairment did not vary as a function of the training-to-lesion interval. Reacquisition training elevated levels of freezing in rats with BLA lesions but did not reduce the magnitude of their deficit in relation to that of controls. These results reveal that neurons in the BLA have an enduring role in the expression of conditional fear.

Scopolamine selectively disrupts the acquisition of contextual fear conditioning in rats

Muscarinic cholinergic antagonism produces learning and memory deficits in a variety of hippocampal-dependent tasks. Hippocampal lesions produce both acquisition deficits and retrograde amnesia for contextual fear conditioning, but do not impact fear conditioning to discrete cues. In order to examine the effects of muscarinic antagonism in this paradigm, rats were given scopolamine (1 mg/kg) either before or for 3 days after a Pavlovian fear-conditioning session in which tones were paired with aversive footshocks. Fear to the context and the tone was assessed by measuring freezing in separate tests. It ws found that pretraining, but not posttraining, scopolamine severely impaired contextual fear conditioning; tone conditioning was not affected under either condition (cf., Young, Bohenek, & Fanselow, Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 63, 174-180, 1995).

Synaptic plasticity in the basolateral amygdala induced by hippocampal formation stimulation in vivo

Several studies suggest that axonal projections from the hippocampal formation (HF) to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) play a role in Pavlovian fear conditioning to contextual conditional stimuli. We have used electrophysiological techniques to characterize neuronal transmission in these projections in urethane-anesthetized rats. Single-pulse electrical stimulation of the ventral angular bundle (VAB), which carries projections from the HF to the BLA, reliably evoked a biphasic extracellular field potential in the BLA that consisted of an early, negative and a late, positive component. The negative component of the field potential occurred at a short latency (3-8 msec), was both temporally and spatially correlated with VAB-evoked multiple-unit discharges in the BLA, and exhibited properties typical of a monosynaptic response. Infusion of lidocaine or glutamate receptor antagonists into the BLA attenuated VAB-evoked field potentials, indicating that they are generated by local synaptic glutamatergic transmission. Both paired-pulse stimulation and brief trains of high-frequency stimulation (HFS) induced a short-lasting facilitation of BLA field potentials, whereas longer and more numerous trains of HFS produced an enduring, NMDA receptor-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) of the potentials. The induction of LTP was accompanied by a decrease in paired-pulse facilitation (PPF), suggesting a presynpatic modification underlying its expression. Electrolytic lesions placed in regions of the HF that project to the BLA or excitotoxic lesions placed in the BLA eliminated Pavlovian fear conditioning to a contextual conditional stimulus. The critical role of both structures in context conditioning implicates plasticity at HF-BLA synapses in this form of learning.

Scopolamine impairs acquisition and facilitates consolidation of fear conditioning: differential effects for tone vs context conditioning

Cholinergic antagonism impacts selected learning tasks. To understand where scopolamine exerts its action, learning tasks differentially sensitive to hippocampus and amygdala lesions were used. Hippocampal lesions prevent context fear conditioning without effect on tone conditioning. These lesions also produce a time-dependent retrograde deficit in context conditioning. The amygdala is necessary for both tone and context conditioning. To examine the possibility that cholinergic antagonism mimics hippocampal damage or amygdala damage, rats were given scopolamine (1 mg/kg) either before or after fear conditioning. In the fear conditioning procedure, rats received tone-footshock or context-footshock pairings. Evidence of conditioning to the tone and the context was provided by observation of freezing. When given prior to training, scopolamine blocked fear conditioning to the tone in a dose-dependent fashion but had no effect on context conditioning. The impairment of tone conditioning did not occur with methylscopolamine, indicating the central action of the drug. Rats given scopolamine immediately following fear conditioning, tested later in a drug-free state, froze more to the tone than rats given a control injection. The effect of scopolamine on freezing to the context was not reliable. The present results suggest that scopolamine's impact on fear conditioning is mediated by some mechanism other than impaired hippocampal or amygdala functioning.

Sex differences in hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats: positive correlation between LTP and contextual learning

Three experiments investigated sex differences in hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) and Pavlovian fear conditioning in rats. Experiment 1 revealed a robust sex difference in the magnitude of LTP induced at perforant path synapses in the dentate gyrus of pentobarbital-anesthetized rats. This sex difference in LTP was evident in rats of 35 and 60 days of age and was not the result of pre-LTP sex differences in perforant path synaptic transmission; 20-day-old rats did not show LTP. An analysis of field potentials evoked during LTP induction revealed a sex difference in the magnitude of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation that was highly correlated with the magnitude of LTP. Experiment 2 showed that males condition more fear, measured as freezing, to the contextual conditional stimuli (CSs) of a conditioning chamber compared to their female counterparts. This sex difference in conditional freezing was apparent with both low and high unconditional stimulus (US, footshock) intensities. Experiment 3 revealed that the enhanced fear conditioning in males was specific to contextual CSs, and consisted of a more rapid rate of conditioning. Together, these experiments reveal a positive correlation between the magnitude of hippocampal LTP and a form of learning that depends on the hippocampus. Furthermore, they suggest a neural basis for sex differences in hippocampus-dependent learning tasks.

Differential effects of the N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate on acquisition of fear of auditory and contextual cues

Intracerebroventricular (icv) administration of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA) antagonist DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV) before tone-shock pairings caused a dose-dependent suppression of acquisition of fear of contextual cues associated with shock. Acquisition of fear of the tone was not impaired. Experiment 2 showed that the fear of the tone was associative and that this tone-shock association was less affected by APV than was a context-shock association. Rats receiving APV before context-shock pairings showed an equivalent loss of fear regardless of whether testing occurred 1 or 28 days after training. It appears that icv administration of APV blocks acquisition of context conditioning by affecting NMDA receptors in the hippocampus. Activity at these receptors at the time of acquisition seems critical for later expression of both intermediate (1 day to 2 weeks) and remote (4 weeks) fear memories.

Parallel augmentation of hippocampal long-term potentiation, theta rhythm, and contextual fear conditioning in water-deprived rats

The influence of water deprivation on hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), theta rhythm, and contextual fear conditioning in rats was examined. In Experiment 1, hippocampal EEG activity and perforant path LTP were assessed in pentobarbital-anesthetized rats. Water deprivation did not affect baseline cell excitability or low-frequency synaptic transmission in the dentate gyrus, but it increased the magnitude of perforant path LTP and elevated the proportion of theta rhythm in the EEG. In Experiment 2, rats were classically conditioned to fear a novel context through the use of aversive footshocks. Water deprivation facilitated the rate of contextual fear conditioning but did not alter the asymptote of learning. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the facilitation of contextual fear conditioning was not due to a change in unconditional shock sensitivity. These results suggest that water deprivation exerts an influence on contextual fear conditioning by modulating hippocampal LTP and theta rhythm and that these processes serve to encode contextual information during learning.

Acquisition of contextual Pavlovian fear conditioning is blocked by application of an NMDA receptor antagonist D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid to the basolateral amygdala

Rats, with chronic cannula placed bilaterally in the amygdala, received infusions of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV) before contextual Pavlovian fear conditioning. Administration of APV to the basolateral nucleus prevented acquisition of fear. Central nucleus infusions had no effect. It is concluded that an NMDA-mediated process near the basolateral region of the amygdala (e.g., lateral or basolateral nucleus) is essential for the learning of fear.

NMDA processes mediate anterograde amnesia of contextual fear conditioning induced by hippocampal damage: immunization against amnesia by context preexposure

Hippocampal lesions in rats produce both a retrograde and an anterograde amnesia of contextual fear conditioning. The present experiments examined the anterograde deficit in context conditioning. The deficit produced by electrolytic hippocampal lesions was apparent when training occurred on 7, 14, or 28 days following surgery, confirming the durability of the amnesia. The role of the hippocampus in context conditioning may be related to an NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor-mediated process. Both NMDA hippocampal lesions and intrahippocampal administration of an NMDA antagonist produced anterograde amnesia. Animals preexposed to the conditioning context 28 days prior to hippocampal lesioning were protected from the deficit normally produced by the lesions. Thus, the hippocampus must form a contextual representation during preexposure that is subsequently stored elsewhere. Once formed this representation of the context can be associated with an unconditional stimulus.

Water deprivation enhances fear conditioning to contextual, but not discrete, conditional stimuli in rats

Water-deprived and nondeprived rats were fear conditioned with a discrete tone conditional stimulus (CS) and an aversive footshock unconditional stimulus (US). Twenty-four and 48 hr following conditioning, conditional fear to the tone CS and the context cues of the conditioning chamber, respectively, were assessed by measuring freezing behavior. Water deprivation had no effect on baseline responding to either tone or contextual stimuli. Following either 1 or 3 tone-shock pairings, however, water deprivation selectively enhanced conditional freezing to the contextual cues of the training chamber; conditional freezing to the tone was unaffected by water deprivation. These results are consistent with the view that water deprivation affects fear conditioning via an influence on the hippocampus.

Pavlovian conditioning alters cortical microtubule-associated protein-2

Three experiments indicate that Pavlovian conditioning to tone alters microtubule-associated protein-2 (MAP-2) in the temporal cortex. First, increased MAP-2 immunohistochemistry was evident in temporal cortex following tone-shock pairings but not light-shock pairings. In the second experiment, animals given tone paired with shock (compared with animals trained with tone unpaired with shock or given tone only) showed MAP-2 immunohistochemical changes in the temporal cortex, as well as in the frontal and cingulate cortex, the hippocampus and amygdala. In experiment 3, quantitative immunoblots showed decreased intact MAP-2 and increased breakdown products selectively in temporal cortex following fear conditioning to tone. Conditioning to tone also increased sizes of MAP-2 rich pyramidal somata and apical dendrites in temporal and frontal cortex.

Effects of amygdala, hippocampus, and periaqueductal gray lesions on short- and long-term contextual fear

The effects of amygdala, hippocampus, and periaqueductal gray (PAG) lesions on contextual fear conditioning in rats were examined. Freezing behavior served as the measure of conditioning. Unlesioned control animals showed reliable conditional freezing in the testing chamber when observed both immediately and 24 hr after footshocks. In contrast, rats with amygdala or ventral PAG lesions exhibited a significant attenuation in freezing both immediately and 24 hr after the shocks. Dorsal PAG lesions had no effect on freezing at either time. Animals with hippocampal lesions displayed robust freezing behavior immediately following the shock, even though they showed a marked deficit in freezing 24 hr after the shock. These results indicate that there are anatomically dissociable short- and long-term conditional fear states.

Differential effects of the N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate on acquisition of fear of auditory and contextual cues

Intracerebroventricular (icv) administration of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA) antagonist DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV) before tone-shock pairings caused a dose-dependent suppression of acquisition of fear of contextual cues associated with shock. Acquisition of fear of the tone was not impaired. Experiment 2 showed that the fear of the tone was associative and that this tone-shock association was less affected by APV than was a context-shock association. Rats receiving APV before context-shock pairings showed an equivalent loss of fear regardless of whether testing occurred 1 or 28 days after training. It appears that icv administration of APV blocks acquisition of context conditioning by affecting NMDA receptors in the hippocampus. Activity at these receptors at the time of acquisition seems critical for later expression of both intermediate (1 day to 2 weeks) and remote (4 weeks) fear memories.

Parallel augmentation of hippocampal long-term potentiation, theta rhythm, and contextual fear conditioning in water-deprived rats

The influence of water deprivation on hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), theta rhythm, and contextual fear conditioning in rats was examined. In Experiment 1, hippocampal EEG activity and perforant path LTP were assessed in pentobarbital-anesthetized rats. Water deprivation did not affect baseline cell excitability or low-frequency synaptic transmission in the dentate gyrus, but it increased the magnitude of perforant path LTP and elevated the proportion of theta rhythm in the EEG. In Experiment 2, rats were classically conditioned to fear a novel context through the use of aversive footshocks. Water deprivation facilitated the rate of contextual fear conditioning but did not alter the asymptote of learning. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the facilitation of contextual fear conditioning was not due to a change in unconditional shock sensitivity. These results suggest that water deprivation exerts an influence on contextual fear conditioning by modulating hippocampal LTP and theta rhythm and that these processes serve to encode contextual information during learning.

NMDA processes mediate anterograde amnesia of contextual fear conditioning induced by hippocampal damage: immunization against amnesia by context preexposure

Hippocampal lesions in rats produce both a retrograde and an anterograde amnesia of contextual fear conditioning. The present experiments examined the anterograde deficit in context conditioning. The deficit produced by electrolytic hippocampal lesions was apparent when training occurred on 7, 14, or 28 days following surgery, confirming the durability of the amnesia. The role of the hippocampus in context conditioning may be related to an NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor-mediated process. Both NMDA hippocampal lesions and intrahippocampal administration of an NMDA antagonist produced anterograde amnesia. Animals preexposed to the conditioning context 28 days prior to hippocampal lesioning were protected from the deficit normally produced by the lesions. Thus, the hippocampus must form a contextual representation during preexposure that is subsequently stored elsewhere. Once formed this representation of the context can be associated with an unconditional stimulus.

Acquisition of contextual Pavlovian fear conditioning is blocked by application of an NMDA receptor antagonist D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid to the basolateral amygdala

Rats, with chronic cannula placed bilaterally in the amygdala, received infusions of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV) before contextual Pavlovian fear conditioning. Administration of APV to the basolateral nucleus prevented acquisition of fear. Central nucleus infusions had no effect. It is concluded that an NMDA-mediated process near the basolateral region of the amygdala (e.g., lateral or basolateral nucleus) is essential for the learning of fear.

Effects of amygdala, hippocampus, and periaqueductal gray lesions on short- and long-term contextual fear

The effects of amygdala, hippocampus, and periaqueductal gray (PAG) lesions on contextual fear conditioning in rats were examined. Freezing behavior served as the measure of conditioning. Unlesioned control animals showed reliable conditional freezing in the testing chamber when observed both immediately and 24 hr after footshocks. In contrast, rats with amygdala or ventral PAG lesions exhibited a significant attenuation in freezing both immediately and 24 hr after the shocks. Dorsal PAG lesions had no effect on freezing at either time. Animals with hippocampal lesions displayed robust freezing behavior immediately following the shock, even though they showed a marked deficit in freezing 24 hr after the shock. These results indicate that there are anatomically dissociable short- and long-term conditional fear states.