Involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex in formation, consolidation, and reconsolidation of recent and remote contextual fear memory (original) (raw)
- Karim Nader1,3
- 1Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1B1
- 2INSERM U862, Neurocentre Magendie, 33077 Bordeaux, France
Abstract
It has been suggested that memories become more stable and less susceptible to the disruption of reconsolidation over weeks after learning. Here, we test this by targeting the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and test its involvement in the formation, consolidation, and reconsolidation of recent and remote contextual fear memory. We found that inhibiting NMDAR-NR2B activity disrupts memory formation, and that infusion of the protein-synthesis inhibitor anisomycin impairs memory consolidation and reconsolidation of recent and remote memory. Our findings demonstrate for the first time that the ACC plays an important role in reconsolidation of contextual fear memory at recent and remote time points.
Footnotes
↵3 Corresponding author
E-mail karim.nader{at}mcgill.ca[Supplemental material is available for this article.]
Received May 23, 2012.
Accepted June 29, 2012.
© 2012 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press