Assessment of memory extinction of an inhibitory avoidance task

NAVARRO N; KRAWCZYK MC; BARATTI CM; BOCCIA MM; BLAKE MG

Huerta Grande, Córdoba

Congreso; XXIX Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2014

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

Memory processes occurring after a memory reactivation modify the behavioral output measured in the following tests. Such processes may increase or decrease the values taken as memory indicators. A decrease is interpreted as memory impairment, and is usually explained in terms of memory reconsolidation impairment or of memory extinction development (and also as extinction enhancement, depending on certain conditions). On the contrary, an increase is interpreted as memory improvement, usually explained by reconsolidation improvement, however it is not clear what should be expected about how extinction contributes to this change. Memory extinction was mostly assessed by using fear conditioning tests, but much less in the inhibitory avoidance task. In this latter task, the extinction development should be accompanied by a progressive decrease in retention latencies to step-through. The contextual conditions under which the extinction develops in an inhibitory avoidance task in mice are analyzed and presented in this work.