Effects of noradrenergic activation on contextual memory specificity in rats

• Grant number: 19/21254-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2020
• End date: May 15, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Physiological Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Raquel Vecchio Fornari
• Grantee: Barbara dos Santos Vaz
• Host Institution: Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Memories for emotionally arousing experiences are more remembered when compared to memories for emotionally neutral events. Epinephrine released as a response to sympathetic nervous system activation during stressful events plays an important role in modulating the consolidation of episodic memories. The increased in peripheral levels of epinephrine induce an enhancement in norepinephrine (NE) levels in forebrain structures, including the basolateral complex of amygdala (cBLA) and hippocampus. Several evidences suggest that the activation of ²-adrenergic receptors in these structures is one of the main mechanisms for modulation of memory consolidation. Although several studies have investigated the effects of noradrenergic system in memory consolidation, little is known about its effects in contextual memory specificity. The present research project aims to investigate how the noradrenergic system activation, through systemic administration of yohimbine (±2 receptor antagonist), modulates both the strength and accuracy of contextual memories, as well as the expression of proteins related to memory consolidation in the hippocampus and amygdala. The results of the present project will be relevant for the understanding of psychiatric disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder, which presents symptoms as generalized fear responses, in which it has been suggested an involvement of the noradrenergic system and, more specifically, of ²-adrenergic receptors. (AU)