title: Exposure to a novel context following contextual fear conditioning enhances the induction of hippocampal long-term potentiation.
abstract: The prior behavioral experience of an animal can influence the direction and the probability of long-term plasticity induced at the activated synapses. In the present study, we compared alterations in long-term potentiation in the rat CA1 of the hippocampus following post-fear conditioning exposure to the conditioning context vs. a novel context. Furthermore, we examined whether the alterations in long-term potentiation are dependent on the prior formation of context-shock fear memory association. Whereas retrieval of fear memory 1 h after conditioning in the conditioning context was associated with impairment in the magnitude of long-term potentiation, exposure to a novel context at the same time point was associated with a robust increase in long-term potentiation. This effect was time-dependent, as exposure to a novel context 24 h after conditioning resulted in impaired long-term potentiation. Furthermore, preventing the formation of a fear context-shock association resulted in different modifications to long-term potentiation levels, regardless of whether association formation was prevented behaviorally (i.e. using a minimal context-shock association) or pharmacologically (using the N-methyl-d-aspartic acid receptor antagonist MK801). Our findings suggest that exposure to a novel environment following fear conditioning induces a form of metaplasticity that enhances the acquisition of novel information and could prevent acute stress-associated impairments in long-term potentiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Motanis
authors.forename: Mouna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maroun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056547:CA1 Region, Hippocampal / Q000502:physiology*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate / Q000494:pharmacology; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate