Search results for " Classical"
showing 10 items of 301 documents
The hippocampal dentate gyrus is essential for generating contextual memories of fear and drug-induced reward
2008
The hippocampus is believed to play a role in processing information relative to the context in which emotionally salient experiences occur but evidence on the specific contribution of the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) to these processes is limited. Here, we have used two classical behavioral paradigms to study the participation of the dorsal DG in context-conditioned reward and context-conditioned fear. Rats received intra-hippocampal vehicle or colchicine injections (4 μg/μl solution; 0.2 μl injections at 10 sites) that damaged the DG but spared other hippocampal subfields. In the first experiment, we used a place conditioning procedure pairing cocaine exposure (20 mg/kg, i.p.) with a sp…
Chronic social defeat-induced social avoidance as a proxy of stress resilience in mice involves conditioned learning
2019
Abstract Chronic social defeat (CSD)-induced social avoidance is considered to model a feature of stress-related mental dysfunction, while its absence has been used as a proxy of resilience in rodents. However, knowledge on the mechanisms shaping CSD-induced individual outcomes remains fragmentary. Fear conditioning has been described as a suitable model in humans for better understanding the pathophysiology of stress related mental disorders. We sought to explore the extent to which conditioned learning is involved in CSD-induced social avoidance. In experiment 1 (social avoidance specificity), C57BL/6 J male mice underwent CSD followed by a modified social interaction test offering the si…
Influence of massed and distributed context preexposure on contextual fear and Egr-1 expression in the basolateral amygdala
2007
Preexposure to the conditioning context can influence the expression of context-conditioned fear. We used behavioral and early growth response gene (egr-1) assays in rats to study the effects of massed and distributed context preexposure on context-conditioned fear. The results demonstrated that massed context preexposure impaired acquisition of contextual fear, an effect here referred to as delayed shock deficit. Spaced context preexposure produced similar inhibitory effects. Significantly, the introduction of a brief change of context prior to conditioning completely reversed the deficit induced by massed, but not by distributed, context preexposure. This reversibility was inversely relat…
Cannabidiol prevents priming- and stress-induced reinstatement of the conditioned place preference induced by cocaine in mice
2021
[Background]: Cocaine dependence is an important problem without any effective pharmacological treatment. Some preclinical studies have suggested that cannabidiol (CBD), a component of the Cannabis sativa plant, could be useful for the treatment of cocaine use disorders.
Electrolytic lesion of the nucleus incertus retards extinction of auditory conditioned fear
2013
Fear memory circuits in the brain function to allow animals and humans to recognize putative sources of danger and adopt an appropriate behavioral response; and research on animal models of fear have helped reveal the anatomical and neurochemical nature of these circuits. The nucleus (n.) incertus in the dorsal pontine tegmentum provides a strong GABAergic projection to forebrain ‘fear centers’ and is strongly activated by neurogenic stressors. In this study in adult male rats, we examined the effect of electrolytic lesions of n. incertus on different stages of the fear conditioning-extinction process and correlated the outcomes with anatomical data on the distribution of n. incertus-derive…
From pioneering to implementing automated blood pressure measurement in clinical practice: Thomas Pickeringʼs legacy
2010
Thomas G. Pickering spent most of his scientific career in carrying out research on clinical hypertension and blood pressure (BP) measurement. In our review of Pickering's seminal work, we first focused on white-coat hypertension and masked hypertension, two terms that he had introduced. Next, we highlighted the early publications of Pickering on diurnal BP variability and on the clinical application of self-measured BP. Pickering's work inspired many investigators worldwide and constituted a solid basis for further research. Pickering's original ideas led to algorithms for risk stratification involving white-coat hypertension and masked hypertension, diurnal BP variability, and self-measur…
The role of cuticular pheromones in courtship conditioning of Drosophila males
2005
1072-0502 (Print) Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Courtship conditioning is an associative learning paradigm in Drosophila melanogaster, wherein male courtship behavior is modified by experience with unreceptive, previously mated females. While the training experience with mated females involves multiple sensory and behavioral interactions, we hypothesized that female cuticular hydrocarbons function as a specific chemosensory conditioned stimulus in this learning paradigm. The effects of training with mated females were determined in courtship tests with either wild-type virgin females as courtship targets, or with…
Role of acute social stress in the rewarding effects of MDMA in adolescent mice
2021
Drug use among adolescents is a serious problem in our society, as some individuals develop dependence and addiction. MDMA/Esctasy is one of the most typically used substances by this age group. It is well known that environmental factors can alter the rewarding properties of drugs and the propensity to drug-related disorders. In this sense, exposure to social stress induces long-term effects in mice, enhancing the rewarding effects of MDMA in the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. On the other hand, previous research has not provided conclusive results regarding the short-term effects of social defeat on MDMA reward in adolescent animals, probably due to the use of very low or ve…
Morphine potentiates the impairing effects of neuroleptics on two-way active conditioned avoidance response in male mice
2004
The dopaminergic and opioid systems have effects on the conditioned avoidance response (CAR), although the possible interaction between these systems on this behaviour has not been studied. The effects of morphine (12.6 mg/kg), haloperidol (0.075 mg/kg), sulpiride (20 mg/kg) and risperidone (0.1 mg/kg) alone as well as morphine combined with these dopamine (DA) antagonists on the acquisition and performance of the CAR were explored in mice. Morphine increased avoidances but this seemed secondary to a rise in activity levels. All DA antagonists impaired CAR in the acquisition phase but only haloperidol disrupted performance. The combination of morphine plus neuroleptics impaired acquisition …
Involvement of nitric oxide synthesis in sensitization to the rewarding effects of morphine
2009
Abstract Knowledge about the specific brain changes and neural plasticity processes produced by repeated exposure to a drug is essential to progress in the field of neurobiology of addiction and the development of effective medication. In the present study, the influence of nitric oxide synthesis on sensitization to the rewarding effects of morphine has been evaluated. The effects of pre-treatment of mice with saline or 20 mg/kg of morphine plus the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor 7-nitroindazole (7NI) (12.5 or 25 mg/kg) on the place conditioning induced by a low dose of morphine (2 mg/kg) were assessed. The dose of 2 mg/kg of morphine was ineffective in animals pre-treated with saline but …