GABAergic modulation of memory in the crab Chasmagnathus.

MARTIN CARBO-TANO; PEDREIRA M. E.

Huerta Grande Córdoba

Congreso; Primer Reunión Conjunta de Neurociencias (IRCN); 2009

Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias; Taller Argentino de Neurociencias

It is well-known that memory processes such as consolidation and reconsolidation can be modulated by the GABAergic system. Hence, compounds that enhance the action of GABA impair these processes; while compounds that reduce the action of GABA enhance them. Extinction is a complex phenomenon but generally is regarded as a new learning that suppresses the original memory. The role of GABA on the extinction process is still on debate, but an increasing number of reports suggest the GABAergic system as the major player on the extinction memory. Thus, it’s seems, that GABA plays different roles in consolidation and extinction. In the first process, it seems to be no more than an order-molecule; however, in the second one, it probably acts as the main principal component of the process. In our project, we propose that in Chasmagnathus granulatus the GABAergic system may be differentially regulated in both learning processes. To test this hypothesis, the first approach was to study the distribution and composition of the GABA receptors along the nervous system of the crab. Two techniques, western blots analysis and inmunohystochemistry were used to determine, for the first time, the localization and the composition of the GABAA-like receptors in the crab. The results obtained here suggest that it would be possible to combine the aforementioned techniques with pharmacological–behavioural procedures to test if the different learning processes could be differentially regulated by the GABAergic system.