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The Journal of Neuroscience, November 16, 2005, 25(46):10740-10746; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3003-05.2005

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Post-Training Lesions of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Interfere with Subsequent Performance of Trace Eyeblink Conditioning

Barbara Simon,^1,2 Bryan Knuckley,¹ John Churchwell,¹ and Donald A. Powell^1,2,3

¹Shirley L. Buchanan Neuroscience Laboratory, Dorn Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Columbia, South Carolina 29209-1639, ²Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, and ³Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, South Carolina 29208

Rabbits were trained on trace eyeblink (EB) conditioning until they reached a criterion of 10 consecutive EB conditioned responses (CRs). Electrolytic lesions were made in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) centered on the prelimbic area (Brodmann's area 32), at five different intervals after training. These included immediately, 24 h, 1 and 2 weeks, and 1 month after training. Separate groups of animals received sham lesions at these same intervals after training. After a 2 week postoperative recovery period, all animals were retested for 3 d on trace conditioning, using the same parameters used during preoperative training. Mean EB conditioning performance deficits occurred in the animals with mPFC lesions compared with sham-lesioned animals on the first day of retesting in all five groups. However, by the second or third day of retesting, the rabbits with lesions were performing at a level that was comparable with that of sham animals. Rabbits that received more posterolateral lesions of the neocortex did not, however, show postoperative conditioning deficits. A comparison of percentage EB CRs of animals with postoperative training with that of animals that received mPFC lesions before training suggests that the mPFC post-training lesions produce damage to a retrieval process and not to a storage site or an acquisition process.

Key words: rabbits; cingulate cortex; prelimbic cortex; classical conditioning; memory; recall

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Received July 20, 2005; revised September 7, 2005; accepted October 4, 2005.

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