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The Journal of Neuroscience, March 3, 2004, 24(9):2328-2334; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1622-03.2004

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Intra-Amygdala Administration of Polyamines Modulates Fear Conditioning in Rats

Maribel A. Rubin,¹ Daiane B. Berlese,¹ Juliano A. Stiegemeier,¹ Márcio A. Volkweis,¹ Denise M. Oliveira,¹ Telma L. B. dos Santos,¹ Ana C. Fenili,¹ and Carlos F. Mello²

¹Department of Chemistry, Center of Exact and Natural Sciences, and ²Department of Physiology, Center of Health Sciences, Federal University of Santa Maria, 97105-900, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Amygdalar NMDA receptor activation has been implicated in the acquisition of fear memories in rats. However, little is known about the role of endogenous modulators of the NMDA receptor, such as polyamines, in pavlovian fear-conditioning learning. Therefore, in the present study we investigated whether the immediate pretraining or post-training bilateral infusion of arcaine, an antagonist of the NMDA receptor polyamine-binding site, or spermidine, an agonist of the NMDA receptor polyamine-binding site, into the amygdala affected classical fear conditioning in rats. Bilateral microinjections of arcaine (0.0002-0.2 nmol) decreased, whereas spermidine (0.002-20 nmol) increased, contextual and auditory fear conditioning. Arcaine coadministration, at a dose that had no effect per se, reversed the facilitatory effect of spermidine. These results provide evidence that endogenous and exogenous polyamines modulate the acquisition or early consolidation (or both) of the fear-conditioning task in the amygdala.

Key words: spermidine; arcaine; polyamines; amygdala; fear conditioning; learning; memory

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Received July 22, 2003; revised January 16, 2004; accepted January 16, 2004.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Kalisch, B. Holt, P. Petrovic, B. De Martino, S. Kloppel, C. Buchel, and R. J. Dolan The NMDA Agonist D-Cycloserine Facilitates Fear Memory Consolidation in Humans Cereb Cortex, January 1, 2009; 19(1): 187 - 196. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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