Re-examining the ontogeny of the context-preexposure facilitation effect in the rat

PISANO VICTORIA; DAMIÁN REVILLO; SOLEDAD FERRERAS; FAVIO ARIEL KRAPACHER; GUILLERMO FERNÁNDEZ; PAULA ABATE; GABRIELA PAGLINI; CARLOS ARIAS

Huerta Grande, Córdoba

Congreso; XVI Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencia (SAN); 2011

XVI Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencia (SAN)

According to recent studies, the so-called context-preexposure facilitation effect (CPFE) is not observed until postnatal day 23. In these studies the foot-shock intensity employed was relatively high (1.5 mA) and context conditioning was inferred exclusively from a single behavioral measure (percentage of freezing). In adult rats studies employing a less intense foot-shock (1mA)showed evidences of contextual fear conditioning in the immediate-shock condition. The present study examined the CPFE on PD17 and PD23 by means of the analysis of multiple dependent variables. The experimental design was defined by three between-group factors: age (PD17 or PD23), preexposure (preexposed or non-preexposed) and foot-shock (0, 0.5 or 1.5 mA). In the present study we observed comparable levels of freezing than those reported by other authors using similar parameters. Additionally, the CPFE was limited to one dependent variable and detected at both ages. However, evidences of fear were found in a number of dependent variables regardless the pre-exposure treatment. Interestingly, fear responses were generalized to an alternative environment. These results may have important implications for the analysis of the ontogeny of contextual fear conditioning.