Resistance to fear memory destabilization triggers exaggerated emotional-like responses following memory reactivation

ORTIZ, VANESA; CALFA, GASTÓN DIEGO; MOLINA, VÍCTOR ALEJANDRO; MARTIJENA, IRENE DELIA

PROGRESS OF NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2019 vol. 93 p. 197 - 197

0278-5846

ear memory reactivation does not always lead to memory destabilization-reconsolidation. For instance, fear memories formed following withdrawal from chronic ethanol consumption or a stressful event are less likely to become destabilized after reactivation, with the effect of recall of these memories on the affective state still requiring elucidation. Here, we investigated the negative emotional-like responses following fear memory reactivation in ethanol-withdrawn (ETOH) rats by focusing on the possible role played by destabilization. Our findings indicated that ETOH rats displayed an increased freezing in a novel context and an anxiogenic-like response in the elevated plus maze (EPM) following memory reactivation, whereas the behavior of CON animals was not affected. The destabilization blockade by pre-reactivation nimodipine (16 mg/kg, s.c) administration promoted in CON animals a similar behavior in the EPM and in a novel environment as that exhibited by ETOH rats after the reminde