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ERIC Number: EJ1203007
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Feb
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1072-0502
EISSN: N/A
Cocaine, Nicotine, and Their Conditioned Contexts Enhance Consolidation of Object Memory in Rats
Wolter, Michael; Huff, Ethan; Speigel, Talia; Winters, Boyer D.; Leri, Francesco
Learning & Memory, v26 n2 p46-55 Feb 2019
To test the hypothesis that drugs of abuse and their conditioned stimuli (CSs) enhance memory consolidation, the effects of post-training exposure to cocaine and nicotine were compared to the effects of post-training exposure to contextual stimuli that were paired with the effects of these drugs. Using the object recognition (OR) task, it was first demonstrated that both 10 and 20 mg/kg cocaine, and 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg nicotine, enhanced recognition memory when administered immediately after, but not 6 h after the sample phase. To establish the drug CSs, rats were confined for 2 h in a chamber (the CS+) after injections of 20 mg/kg cocaine, or 0.4 mg/kg nicotine, and in another chamber (the CS-) after injections of vehicle. This was repeated over 10 d (5 drug/CS+ and 5 vehicle/CS- pairings in total). At the end of this conditioning period, when tested in a drug-free state, rats displayed conditioned hyperactivity in the CS+ relative to the CS-. More important, immediate, but not delayed, post-sample exposure to the cocaine CS+, or nicotine CS+, enhanced OR memory. Therefore, this study reports for the first time that contextual stimuli paired with cocaine and nicotine, like the drugs themselves, have the ability to enhance memory consolidation.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. 500 Sunnyside Boulevard, Woodbury, NY 11797-2924. Tel: 800-843-4388; Tel: 516-367-8800; Fax: 516-422-4097; e-mail: cshpres@cshl.edu; Web site: http://learnmem.cshlp.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A