ERIC Number: EJ921170
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Apr
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1072-0502
EISSN: N/A
Medial Prefrontal Cortex Activation Facilitates Re-Extinction of Fear in Rats
Chang, Chun-hui; Maren, Stephen
Learning & Memory, v18 n4 p221-225 Apr 2011
It has been suggested that reduced infralimbic (IL) cortical activity contributes to impairments of fear extinction. We therefore explored whether pharmacological activation of the IL would facilitate extinction under conditions it normally fails (i.e., immediate extinction). Rats received auditory fear conditioning 1 h before extinction training. Immediately prior to extinction, rats received microinfusions into the IL of the GABAA receptor antagonist, picrotoxin, or the NMDA receptor partial agonist, D-cycloserine. Although neither drug facilitated extinction, they both facilitated the subsequent re-extinction of fear when animals were trained in a drug-free state, suggesting that activating the IL primes behavioral extinction.
Descriptors: Fear, Brain Hemisphere Functions, Animals, Drug Use, Conditioning, Auditory Stimuli, Behavior Change, Learning Processes
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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