To gain more insights into the role of genes in memory formation, Jun Cho et al. used ribosome profiling and RNA - sequencing of the mouse hippocampus
after contextual fear conditioning, a process in which the mice received a small electric shock in a particular setting, forming a strong memory associating that setting with the shock.
In the fear conditioning paradigm, animals can also learn to associate the environment with the aversive stimulus; therefore, we
tested contextual fear conditioning behavior 24 h later in the same arena, and compared it to the average freezing response during the pre-training habituation session (which averaged ~ 10 % freezing).
Both hippocampal synaptic density and LTP as well
as contextual fear conditioning and spatial learning vary as a function of maternal care in the rat [10], [15].
Following two days of habituation and animal handling, auditory fear conditioning was tested (a, d) followed by assessment
of contextual fear conditioning 24 h later (b, e).
No differences in freezing responses between non-transgenic and transgenic rats were detected
during contextual fear conditioning testing at this early stage (F2, 21 = 1.043; p > 0.05)(Figure 6b).
Using a genetic approach to increase spine turnover, they show that higher pre-learning spine turnover positively correlates with learning and memory performance
in contextual fear conditioning and Morris water maze.
Fos ecRNA was induced by memory - forming experiences in rats, and knockdown of Fos ecRNA in a region of the rat hippocampus significantly impaired long - term memory formation
after contextual fear conditioning.
In
contextual fear conditioning, experimental subjects are placed in an emotionally neutral context (such as a room) and presented an aversive stimulus (such as an electrical shock).
Contextual fear conditioning has previously been carried out with the huAPP / PS1 mice where 11 - month - old AD mice spent significantly less time freezing in response to the context than wild type controls [44].
On day 3,
contextual fear conditioning was evaluated by placing the animals in the chamber during 8 min.
Aged C3 - deficient mice also performed significantly better than WT mice in
the contextual fear conditioning task, which evaluates memory associated with aversive stimuli, and C3 - deficient mice display reduced anxiolytic behavior, evaluated via the elevated plus maze and open - field assessment.
By two hippocampal - dependent memory tests, the Morris water maze and
contextual fear conditioning, rivastigmine improved the memory
By two hippocampal - dependent memory tests, the Morris water maze and
contextual fear conditioning, rivastigmine improved the memory... deterioration of the T2DM - AD mice (n = 8, p < 0.01).