Elsevier

Neuroscience

Volume 124, Issue 4, 2004, Pages 735-741
Neuroscience

Memory consolidation and reconsolidation of an inhibitory avoidance response in mice: effects of i.c.v. injections of hemicholinium-3

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2004.01.001Get rights and content

Abstract

The immediate post-training i.c.v. administration of hemicholinium-3 (HC-3) (1 μg), a specific inhibitor of the high-affinity choline uptake (HACU) in brain cholinergic neurons, impaired retention test performance of a one-trial step-through inhibitory avoidance response in adult male CF-1 mice. The effect was observed in mice that received a footshock (0.8 mA, 50 Hz, 1 s) on the learning trial, and not only 48 h after training, but also 7 days after it. After the completion of the retention test at each of the training-test interval that were studied, the HACU in the hippocampus of HC-3-treated mice was not significantly different from that of saline-injected (1 μl) control groups. Mice that were over-reinforced (1.2 mA, 50 Hz, 1 s) on the learning trial, exhibited a high retention performance 48 h after training. The immediate i.c.v. injection of HC-3 (1 μg) after the retention test, that is, after memory reactivation, significantly impaired retention performance over 4 consecutive days, whereas the saline-injected control group shown a slight, but significant performance decrease only at the last retention test. Retention performance was unchanged in HC-3-treated mice not undergoing memory reactivation session. These results, taken together, indicate that HC-3, not only impaired consolidation, but also reconsolidation of an inhibitory avoidance task in mice, suggesting a critical participation of central cholinergic mechanisms in both memory processes.

Section snippets

Experimental subjects

CF-1 male mice (FUNDACAL, Buenos Aires, Argentina) were used (age: 60–70 days; weight: 25–30 g). They were individually caged and remained singly housed throughout the experimental procedures. The mice were kept in a climatised animal room (21–23 °C) maintained on a 12-h light/dark cycle (lights on at 06:00 h), with ad libitum access to dry food and tap water. Experiments were carried out in accordance with the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH

Effects of post-training i.c.v. of HC-3 on retention

The results are shown in Fig. 1. The post-training i.c.v. administration of HC-3 impaired retention performance in mice that received the footshock during the learning trial. The effect was observed not only 48 h after training, but also 7 days after it (P<0.01, in both cases as compared with the respective saline injected control group). There was not significant difference in the response latencies among the groups that were trained without footshock but were injected with saline or HC-3

Discussion

The results of the first experiment indicate that post-training i.c.v. administration of HC-3, a selective inhibitor for the function of cholinergic neurons (Gardiner, 1961, MacIntosh, 1963), impairs retention performance of a one-trial inhibitory avoidance response in mice. The effect was observed at each training-test interval (i.e. 48 h or 7 days) at which the mice were tested once, and only in those mice that had received a footshock on the learning trial. Thus, the post-training effects of

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grant B035 from the University of Buenos Aires and M. G. Blake is a fellow from UBA.

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