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Masters Thesis to be Submitted to University - Adam Ulmen.pdf (760.42 KB)

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Adam Ulmen Thesis Abstract.pdf (82.94 KB)

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The NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 renders pavlovian fear conditioning state-dependent

Ulmen, Adam Richard
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1430140456

Abstract Details

2015, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences.
ULMEN, ADAM RICHARD, M.A. MAY 2015 PSYCHOLOGY THE NMDA RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST MK-801 RENDERS PAVLOVIAN FEAR CONDITIONING STATE-DEPENDENT (55 pp.) Thesis Advisor: David C. Riccio State-dependency is a phenomenon concerning interoceptive stimuli and their subsequent impact on the ability of an organism to successfully retrieve a memory. The current study utilized a Pavlovian avoidance conditioning procedure to train, reactivate, and test avoidance memory expression in rats following treatment with the NMDA receptor antagonist, MK-801. Previous studies have demonstrated that MK-801 impairs memory, therefore we sought to establish MK-801-induced deficits for reconsolidation in adult rats in our laboratory, and hypothesized that MK-801 would block the reconsolidation of avoidance memory to ensure efficacy of the drug in our hands. Given that MK-801 has been shown to be state-dependent in other studies using peripheral injections, we hypothesized that we would find state-dependent reconsolidation deficits when infusing directly into the central nervous system and, in particular, the hippocampus. Experiment 1 demonstrated significant deficits in a reconsolidated memory for Pavlovian fear conditioning following MK-801 injection immediately after reactivation, but no effect when the memory was not reactivated, confirming that MK-801 worked to impair reconsolidation in a reactivation-dependent manner. Experiment 2 confirmed and extended prior findings that peripheral injection of MK-801 impaired avoidance memory for reconsolidation in a state-dependent manner, and that the window of susceptibility to impairment by MK-801 is less than 6 hours. Experiment 3 showed that intracerebroventricular (icv) infusions of MK-801 produced similar memory impairment as in Experiment 1, but that this finding was state-dependent as in Experiment 2. Experiment 4 showed that bilateral hippocampal infusion of MK-801 produced reconsolidation impairments similar to Experiments 1, 2, & 3; however, we failed to find a state-dependent effect of MK-801 in the hippocampus. The findings discussed here highlight that the issue of state-dependent memory may be more important than previously thought. Our data demonstrate that although a memory may appear to be blocked when tested in the absence of an amnestic treatment, re-administration of the treatment may serve to allow retrieval. This finding is crucial because many of the studies that lead to our current understanding of memory do not use a state-dependent design to assess the possibility of the results being due to a state-dependent effect, rather than actual blockade of memory formation.
David Riccio (Committee Chair)
Aaron Jasnow (Committee Member)
Stephen Fountain (Committee Member)
Jeffrey Ciesla (Committee Member)
53 p.
Neurobiology; Psychobiology; Psychology
reconsolidation; consolidation; memory; state dependency; NMDA

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ulmen, A. R. (2015). The NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 renders pavlovian fear conditioning state-dependent [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1430140456

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ulmen, Adam. The NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 renders pavlovian fear conditioning state-dependent. 2015. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1430140456.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ulmen, Adam. "The NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 renders pavlovian fear conditioning state-dependent." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1430140456

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1430140456
459
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This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.