title: Involvement of the 5-HT1A receptors in classical fear conditioning in C57BL/6J mice.
abstract: The present study examined the involvement of the 5-HT(1A) receptors in classical fear conditioning using the 5-HT(1A) agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propyloamino)tetralin hydrobromide (8-OH-DPAT) and the selective "silent" 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist (N-[2-[4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethyl]-N-(2-pyridinyl)cyclo- hexane carboxamide trihydrochloride (WAY 100635). The drugs were administered both subcutaneously and bilaterally into the dorsal hippocampus of male C57BL/6J mice. The training was performed in a single trial in which a tone was followed by a footshock. The retention of context- and tone-dependent fear was examined in separate tests conducted either 1 or 24 hr after training. Subcutaneous 8-OH-DPAT (0.1-1.0 mg/kg), when injected before but not after training, caused a dose-dependent impairment of contextual fear in both 1 and 24 hr tests, whereas tone-dependent fear was less affected. Pretraining intrahippocampal injections of 5.0 microg but not 1.0 microg 8-OH-DPAT caused a severe deficit in contextual fear when tested 24 hr after training. When injected both subcutaneously and intrahippocampally, 8-OH-DPAT induced the 5-HT syndrome, indicative of postsynaptic 5-HT(1A) receptor activation at the dose ranges that impaired fear conditioning. However, the behavioral changes induced by 8-OH-DPAT at the time of training could not account for inhibitory effects of 8-OH-DPAT on fear conditioning. Neither subcutaneous (0.03 mg/kg) nor intrahippocampal (0.5 microg per mouse) WAY 100635 altered context- or tone-dependent fear. However, subcutaneous WAY 100635 blocked both the 5-HT syndrome and the impairment of fear conditioning induced by subcutaneous or intrahippocampal 8-OH-DPAT. In contrast, intrahippocampal WAY 100635 blocked the impairment caused by intrahippocampal but not subcutaneous 8-OH-DPAT, indicating the involvement of extrahippocampal 5-HT(1A) receptors in fear conditioning. It is concluded that the deficits in fear conditioning induced by 8-OH-DPAT are a result of postsynaptic 5-HT(1A) receptor activation that interferes with learning processes operating at acquisition but not consolidation. Furthermore, the dorsohippocampal 5-HT(1A) receptors play an important but not exclusive role in the limbic circuitry subserving contextual fear conditioning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Neuroendocrinology, Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, D-37075 Goettingen, Germany. stiedl@em.mpg.de
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Stiedl
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Misane
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spiess
authors.forename: S O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Ogren
mesh_terms: D017371:8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004333:Drug Administration Routes; D004597:Electroshock; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008845:Microinjections; D010879:Piperazines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011725:Pyridines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D044263:Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT1; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists / Q000008:administration & dosage; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D010879:Piperazines; D011725:Pyridines; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin; D044263:Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT1; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; C090413:N-(2-(4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl)ethyl)-N-(2-pyridinyl)cyclohexanecarboxamide; D017371:8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin