title: Open-field exposure facilitates consummatory extinction.
abstract: During extinction, the organism learns that a conditioned stimulus or a conditioned response is no longer associated with an unconditioned stimulus, and as a consequence, a decrement in the response is presented. The exposure to novel situations (e.g. exploration of a novel open field) has been used widely to modulate (i.e. either enhance or deteriorate) learning and memory. The aim of the present study was to test whether open-field exposure could modulate consummatory extinction. The results indicated that open-field exposure accelerated the extinction response (i.e. experimental animals provided novelty exposure had lower consummatory behavior than control animals) when applied before - but not after - the first extinction trial, or when applied before the second extinction trial. The results suggest that environmental treatments such as novelty exposure provide a valuable, nonpharmacological alternative to potentially modulate extinction processes.
authors.affiliation: aLaboratory of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Medical Research Institute, National Research Council, Buenos Aires University bMedical Research Institute M. and M. Ferreyra, CONICET, Cordoba University, Cordoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Justel
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Psyrdellis
authors.forename: Ricardo M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Pautassi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D003259:Consummatory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013997:Time Factors