PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Nicola Stollhoff
AU  - Dorothea Eisenhardt
TI  - Consolidation of an Extinction Memory Depends on the Unconditioned Stimulus Magnitude Previously Experienced during Training
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0495-09.2009
DP  - 2009 Jul 29
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 9644--9650
VI  - 29
IP  - 30
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/30/9644.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/30/9644.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2009 Jul 29; 29
AB  - Here, we examine the role of the magnitude of the unconditioned stimulus (US) during classical conditioning in consolidation processes after memory retrieval. We varied the US durations during training and we test the impact of these variations on consolidation after memory retrieval with one or two conditioned stimulus-only trials. We found that the consolidation of an extinction memory depends on US duration during training and ruled out the possibility that this effect is attributable to differences in satiation after conditioning. We conclude that consolidation of an extinction memory is triggered only when the duration of the US reaches a critical threshold. This demonstrates that memory consolidation cannot be regarded as an isolated process depending solely on training conditions. Instead, it depends on the animal's previous experience as well.