CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Extinction memory results a challenging process to be study because it shares a lot with the initial learning, but at the same time, exclusive components are also associated to the extinction memory. As Pavlov and Konorski had remarked, the most broadly distinguished difference between initial learning and extinction learning was that initial learning certainly entailed excitatory synaptic connections, whereas extinction likely involved inhibitory synaptic connections. Considering extinction as a new memory, the modulation of GABA during extinction memory consolidation would be similar to the role described the original one. But considering the inhibitory role of the neurotransmitter and the inhibitory attributes of extinction memory, we propose a different function for other phases of this memory, in particular during the extinction memory acquisition. Here, using an invertebrate model, we investigate the role of GABA in the different extinction memory phases: acquisition, consolidation and retrieval. Finally, we advance in the characterization of GABAA receptors distribution and composition in this invertebrate model. This description will be the first step to study possible modification in number and composition of GABAA receptors in relation with the different memory phases.