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Isolation rearing-induced deficits in contextual fear learning do not require CRF(2) receptors.
- Source :
-
Behavioural brain research [Behav Brain Res] 2010 May 01; Vol. 209 (1), pp. 80-4. Date of Electronic Publication: 2010 Jan 25. - Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- Post-weaning social isolation of rodents is used to model developmental stressors linked to neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia as well as anxiety and mood disorders. Isolation rearing produces alterations in emotional memory and hippocampal neuropathology. Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) signaling has recently been shown to be involved in behavioral effects of isolation rearing. Activation of the CRF(2) receptor is linked to stress-induced alterations in fear learning and may also be involved in long-term adaptation to stress. Here we tested the hypothesis that CRF(2) contributes to isolation rearing effects on emotional memory. At weaning, mice were housed either in groups of three or individually in standard mouse cages. In adulthood, isolation-reared mice exhibited significant reductions in context-specific, but not cue-specific, freezing. Isolation-reared mice exhibited no significant changes in locomotor exploration during brief exposure to a novel environment, suggesting that the reduced freezing in response to context cues was not due to activity confounds. Isolation rearing also disrupted context fear memory in mice with a CRF(2) gene null mutation, indicating that the CRF(2) receptor is not required for isolation effects on fear memory. Thus, isolation rearing disrupts hippocampal-dependent fear learning as indicated by consistent reductions in context-conditioned freezing in two separate cohorts of mice, and these effects are via a CRF(2)-independent mechanism. These findings may be clinically relevant because they suggest that isolation rearing in mice may be a useful model of developmental perturbations linked to disruptions in emotional memory in a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders.
- Subjects :
- Animals
Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic physiology
Male
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Knockout
Motor Activity physiology
Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone deficiency
Stress, Psychological etiology
Conditioning, Psychological physiology
Fear physiology
Learning Disabilities etiology
Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone metabolism
Social Isolation
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1872-7549
- Volume :
- 209
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Behavioural brain research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 20097235
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2010.01.018