Expression of Fos protein in the dorsal striatum after tone fear conditioning test

• Grant number: 17/23998-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2018
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Physiological Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Tatiana Lima Ferreira
• Grantee: Heloisa D Angelo Fernandes
• Host Institution: Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The neurobiological basis of emotional memories may be analysed through Tone Fear Conditioning (TFC), which combines a tone to an aversive stimulus, providing the tone with the ability to elicit a conditioned response even in the absence of the original unconditioned stimulus. Previous studies from our laboratory showed that the Dorsal Striatum has a role in this kind of learning only in the acquisition, but not in the consolidation stage of memory. This project intends to verify the neuronal activation in this structure during the retrieval of TFC, through the expression of Fos protein, in order to identify the role of the dorsolateral and dorsomedial portions of the Dorsal Striatum. Based on this result, our next step will be the temporary inactivation of striatum using muscimol microinjection directly into the subregion that showed the the greatest number of Fos positive cells after fear memory retrieval. (AU)