DHPG Activation of Group 1 mGluRs in BLA Enhances Fear Conditioning

Group 1 metabotropic glutamate receptors are known to play an important role in both synaptic plasticity and memory. We show that activating these receptors prior to fear conditioning by infusing the group 1 mGluR agonist, (R.S.)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG), into the basolateral region of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2009-07, Vol.16 (7), p.421-425
Main Authors: Rudy, Jerry W, Matus-Amat, Patricia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic Stimulation - methods
Amygdala - drug effects
Amygdala - metabolism
Animals
Brain
Brain Hemisphere Functions
Conditioning
Conditioning, Classical - drug effects
Conditioning, Classical - physiology
Drug Administration Schedule
Electroshock - adverse effects
Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists - pharmacology
Fear
Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic - drug effects
Indans - pharmacology
Male
Memory
Metabolism
Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol - analogs & derivatives
Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol - pharmacology
Microinjections - methods
Neurological Organization
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate - agonists
Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate - physiology
Time Factors
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Summary:Group 1 metabotropic glutamate receptors are known to play an important role in both synaptic plasticity and memory. We show that activating these receptors prior to fear conditioning by infusing the group 1 mGluR agonist, (R.S.)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG), into the basolateral region of the amygdala (BLA) of adult Sprague-Dawley rats enhances freezing normally supported by a weak footshock. This effect of DHPG was blocked when it was co-infused with either the general group 1 mGluR1 antagonist, (R,S)-1-aminoindan-1,5 dicarboxylic acid (AIDA), or with the selective mGluR5 antagonist, 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)-pyridine (MPEP). These results support previous findings by Rodrigues and colleagues that mGluR5s in the lateral region of the amygdala make an import contribution to fear conditioning. More importantly, they support the general ideas embedded in the concept of metaplasticity, as per Abraham, and the synaptic-tagging hypothesis per Frey and Morris--that the processes that specify the content of experience can be experimentally separated from those needed to acquire the memory.
ISSN:1072-0502
1549-5485
DOI:10.1101/lm.1444909