Effects of different shock intensities during the contextual fear conditioning tra...
| Grant number: | 17/03820-0 |
| Support type: | Regular Research Grants |
| Duration: | August 01, 2017 - April 30, 2020 |
| Field of knowledge: | Humanities - Psychology |
| Principal Investigator: | Raquel Vecchio Fornari |
| Grantee: | Raquel Vecchio Fornari |
| Home Institution: | Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil |
| Assoc. researchers: | Paula Ayako Tiba ; Tatiana Lima Ferreira |
| Associated scholarship(s): | 19/12763-5 - Mapping of encephalic regions involved in the retrieval of contextual memory in animals trained with different shock intensities,
BP.TT 18/18346-4 - Mapping of encephalic regions involved in the retrieval of contextual memory in animals trained with different shock intensities, BP.TT |
Abstract
Several studies have shown that glucocorticoids (cortisol in humans and corticosterone - CORT - in rats), released during emotional or stressful situations, improve memory. The CORT hormone acts in different brain regions, including the hippocampus, to increase the consolidation of various types of memory tasks, such as the contextual fear conditioning (CFC). Some evidence indicates that the hippocampus has a limited temporal role in the processing of memories, which, over time, become stabilized and stored in the neocortex, with a consequent reduction in their specificity. Despite emotional memories being always referred to as well remembered for long periods of time, there are no studies that have investigated the temporal dynamics of CORT induced modulation of memory specificity and duration. This project will investigate the role of plasmatic CORT, released after different CFC training intensities, on the specificity and duration of contextual memory in rats. The possible involvement of different brain regions, such as the hippocampus, amygdala and cerebral cortex, in the retrieval of recent and remote CFC memory, induced by different training intensities, will also be examined. Moreover, the involvement of glucocorticoid receptors, immediately after training, in the specificity and duration of contextual memory will be analyzed. The results will, therefore, help to increase our knowledge about the behavioral, biochemical and neuroanatomical mechanisms involved in the effects of emotion and/or alert, on the formation and maintenance of long-term memory. (AU)