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The Journal of Neuroscience, April 15, 2009, 29(15):4836-4845; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0178-09.2009

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Dopamine D₁ versus D₄ Receptors Differentially Modulate the Encoding of Salient versus Nonsalient Emotional Information in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex

Nicole M. Lauzon, Stephanie F. Bishop, and Steven R. Laviolette

Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The Schulich School of Medicine, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N5Y 5T8

Correspondence should be addressed to Steven R. Laviolette at the above address. Email: steven.laviolette{at}schulich.uwo.ca

Dopamine (DA) transmission plays a critical role in the processing of emotionally salient information and in associative learning and memory processes. Within the mammalian brain, neurons within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are involved critically in the encoding, expression, and extinction of emotionally salient learned information. Within the mPFC, dopaminergic transmission is involved importantly in controlling attentional and motivational processes, particularly within the context of emotionally salient sensory information. Considerable evidence suggests differential roles for DA D₁-like versus D₂-like receptors, including the D₄ receptor subtype, in the regulation of neuronal activity and emotional processing within the mPFC. Using an olfactory fear-conditioning assay in rats, we compared the roles of DA D₁ versus D₄ receptor activation during the encoding and recall phases of emotional learning and memory. We report that specific activation of DA D₄ receptors within the mPFC strongly potentiates the salience of normally nonsalient emotional associative fear memories and blocks the encoding of suprathreshold conditioned fear associations. However, D₄ receptor activation has no effect on the recall of previously learned emotionally salient conditioned memories. In contrast, intra-mPFC D₁ receptor activation failed to increase the emotional salience of subthreshold fear stimuli but completely blocked the expression of previously learned emotionally relevant information, demonstrating that DA D₄ versus D₁ subtype receptor transmission within the mPFC plays distinct functional roles in the processing of emotionally salient versus nonsalient associative information and differentially modulates the encoding versus recall phases of emotional memory within the mPFC.

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Received Jan. 13, 2009; revised March 10, 2009; accepted March 11, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to Steven R. Laviolette at the above address. Email: steven.laviolette{at}schulich.uwo.ca

Related articles in J. Neurosci.:

A Balancing Act: D₄ Receptor Activation and the Neurobiological Basis of Emotional Learning

Susannah J. Tye, Dan P. Covey, and Christoph J. Griessenauer
J. Neurosci. 2009 29: 10785-10787. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. J. Tye, D. P. Covey, and C. J. Griessenauer A Balancing Act: D4 Receptor Activation and the Neurobiological Basis of Emotional Learning J. Neurosci., September 2, 2009; 29(35): 10785 - 10787. [Full Text] [PDF]

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