Brain c-Fos immunocytochemistry and cytochrome oxidase histochemistry after a fear conditioning task.

Full Abstract

The involvement of the basolateral and the medial amygdala in fear conditioning was evaluated using different markers of neuronal activation. The method described here is a combination of cytochrome oxidase (CO) histochemistry and c-Fos immunocytochemistry on fresh frozen brain sections. Freezing behavior was used as an index of auditory and contextual fear conditioning. As expected, freezing scores were significantly higher in rats exposed to tone-shock pairings in a distinctive environment (conditioned; COND), as compared to rats that did not receive any shocks (UNCD). CO labeling was increased in the basolateral and medial amygdala of the COND group. Conversely, c-Fos expression in the basolateral and medial amygdala was lower in the COND group as compared to the UNCD group. Furthermore, c-Fos expression was particularly high in the medial amygdala of the UNCD group. The data provided by both techniques indicate that these amygdalar nuclei could play different roles on auditory and contextual fear conditioning.

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Author information

Author/s: Conejo, Nélida M (NM); González Pardo, Héctor (H); López, Matías (M); Cantora, Raúl (R); Arias, Jorge L (JL);

Affiliation: Universidad de Oviedo. conejonelida(-atsign-)uniovi.es

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psicothema (Psicothema), published in Spain. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-May; vol 19 (issue 2) : pp 295-301

Dates: Created 2007/04/11; Completed 2007/06/21;

PMID: 17425902, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Amygdala - enzymology; immunology; pathology
Animals
Conditioning (Psychology)
Electron Transport Complex IV - metabolism
Fear

Immunohistochemistry
Male
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos - immunology; metabolism
Rats
Rats, Wistar

Associated Chemicals: Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos (0) ; Electron Transport Complex IV (EC 1.9.3.1)

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