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1 Laboratory of Neurobiology and Psychopathology, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, 06108 Nice, France2 Department of Psychology and3 Neuroscience Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
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|
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In electrophysiological studies, it has been shown that extinction of
conditioned fear is accompanied by increased neuronal activity in the mPFC
that is not required for extinction learning per se
(Herry et al. 1999
), but
contributes to inhibition of spontaneous recovery of the extinguished fear
(Herry and Garcia 2002
;
Milad and Quirk 2002
). Indeed,
both prefrontal long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD),
induced by train stimulation of the mediodorsal thalamus (MD), were found to
have no effect on the rate of extinction of conditioned fear (short-term
processes of extinction memory) but were associated with inhibition (LTP) and
facilitation (LTD) of spontaneous recovery
(Herry and Garcia 2002
).
However, in a more recent study analyzing synaptic plasticity changes in the
projection from the hippocampus (HPC) to the mPFC, contradictory results have
been found (M. Farinelli, O. Deschaux, S. Hugues, and R. Garcia, in prep.).
First, this study reveals that the HPC-mPFC pathway also displays LTP-like
changes following extinction training. Second, the same study also indicates
that suppression of extinction-related HPC-mPFC LTP by HPC low-frequency
stimulation, applied immediately after extinction training, is associated with
facilitation of spontaneous recovery of conditioned freezing. However, in
contrast to previous findings, Farinelli and colleagues' study (M. Farinelli,
O. Deschaux, S. Hugues, and R. Garcia, in prep.) shows that HPC tetanus,
applied 72 h after HPC low-frequency stimulation, can inhibit the return of
the conditioned fear behavior without restoring HPC-mPFC LTP, probably by
inducing synaptic plasticity changes in other HPC output targets. This
suggests that in certain circumstances, the integrity of these HPC output
targets, but not of the mPFC, may be required for the expression of extinction
memory.
To address this issue, we first examined in rats whether pre-conditioning
or post-extinction lesions of the mPFC and other hippocampal output targets
that have been implicated in conditioned fear inhibition (the motor cortex
[MO] and MD [Barrett et al.
2003
] and the dorsal septum [SEP]
[Thomas et al. 1991
]) would
impair expression of memory of fear extinction. We also analyzed whether
pre-conditioning or post-extinction lesions of the mPFC combined with lesions
of the MO, the SEP, or the MD would have greater effects on long-term
extinction memory. Animals were fear conditioned in one context (five
tone-footshock pairings), placed in a different context the following day for
extinction (45 tone-alone presentations), and tested for extinction retention
7 d after extinction training in the extinction context (five tone-alone
presentations).
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Histological assessment of damage to the targeted brain regions is presented in Figure 1. Prefrontal lesions were localized predominantly to the prelimbic and infralimbic areas (mPFC lesions) and the medial and lateral pre-central areas (MO lesions) of the PFC. MD lesions were localized in the medial part of the MD. Septal lesions (SEP) were localized in the dorsal lateral septum and included also the most-dorsal part of the medial septum. Animals with misplaced lesions or without bilateral lesions were excluded from the statistical analyses.
|
Single-site lesions do not impair expression of fear extinction
Un-operated (UN-OP) and sham-operated (SH) rats and those with lesions (mPFC, MO, SEP, and MD) exhibited high levels of freezing to the CS early in the extinction training session and extinguished this response over the course of the session (Fig. 2A). Freezing was low during the entire session in rats that did not receive CS presentations (NO-EXT). Statistical analyses of these data revealed a significant group x extinction block interaction (F(54,747) = 2.7; P < 0.0001). There was no effect of lesion in the analysis indicating that short-term extinction was normal in all of the groups.
|
Combined lesions including the mPFC do not impair expression of fear extinction
We hypothesized that the failure of mPFC lesions to impair the retention of extinction may have been due to compensation from the MO, the SEP, the MD, or other brain regions. We therefore combined mPFC lesions with lesions of the MO (MO + mPFC), the SEP (SEP + mPFC), or the MD (MD + mPFC). Rats in all of the lesion groups and SH and UN-OP rats displayed high levels of freezing early in extinction training and extinguished this response with repeated presentations of the tone CS; NO-EXT rats exhibited low levels of freezing during the entire session (Fig. 3A). Statistical analyses of these data revealed a significant interaction between group and extinction block (F(45,540) = 5.1; P < 0.0001). The NO-EXT rats differed (Ps < 0.05) from all of the other groups that did not differ from each other.
|
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
At present, it is not clear what conditions are necessary to observe an
impairment in fear extinction with lesions in the mPFC. LeDoux and colleagues
(Morgan et al. 1993
;
Morgan and LeDoux 1995
) first
demonstrated in rats that lesions of both infralimbic and prelimbic areas of
the mPFC retard extinction of freezing behavior to a tone CS. However, two
other studies later showed that rats without the infralimbic area
(Gewirtz et al. 1997
) and mice
without the prelimbic area (Vouimba et al.
2000
) can acquire extinction of conditioned fear. Others have
found that the infralimbic area of the mPFC does not contribute to short-term
extinction, but is involved in the retrieval of that extinction memory 24 h
after extinction (Quirk et al.
2000
; Lebron et al.
2004
). The present data stand in contrast to these reports,
insofar as we have observed normal extinction retention 1 wk after extinction
in rats with damage to the mPFC. It is possible that pre-training lesions
affected the strength of initial conditioned freezing behavior, which could
have altered assessment of the effects of these lesions on extinction.
However, there were no differences in conditioned freezing between the groups
at the start of extinction (Fig.
2). Alternatively, the discrepancies between our data and previous
findings (Quirk et al. 2000
;
Lebron et al. 2004
) might be
due to contextual variables (conditioning and extinction in the same context
vs. conditioning and extinction in different contexts in the present study) or
the delay between extinction training and testing (1 d vs. 7 d in the present
study). The mPFC may therefore participate in long-term extinction if present
(as shown by other approaches) (see also
Herry and Mons 2004
;
Hugues et al. 2004
;
Santini et al. 2004
), but
under certain experimental conditions other areas may assure the same function
in the absence of the mPFC, as shown here.
Electrophysiological studies also show that extinction of conditioned fear
can develop normally, whatever the level of neuronal activity in the mPFC. In
particular, fear extinction can be associated with increases
(Herry et al. 1999
;
Herry and Garcia 2002
;
Milad and Quirk 2002
),
decreases (Herry and Garcia
2002
), or no change (Milad and
Quirk 2002
) in neuronal activity in the mPFC. In contrast,
post-extinction prefrontal changes that develop after training are known to
interact with long-term processes of fear extinction. Indeed, only animals
with increased neuronal activity in the mPFC in the mouse prelimbic area
(Herry and Garcia 2002
) or the
rat infralimbic area (Milad and Quirk
2002
) were found to be capable of recalling extinction. Thus,
these lesion and electrophysiological data contrast with the present study
where both pre-conditioning and post-extinction lesions of the mPFC did not
interfere with long-term fear extinction. However, our data are in accordance
with more recent electrophysiological observations in which the synaptic
potentiation in the mPFC and the expression of long-term extinction were
dissociated (M. Farinelli, O. Deschaux, S. Hugues, and R. Garcia, in prep.).
It is possible that when the mPFC is absent (e.g., the present study) or not
fully functional (absence of potentiation of neuronal activity) (M. Farinelli,
O. Deschaux, S. Hugues, and R. Garcia, in prep.), increased activity in other
brain circuits may facilitate the expression of extinction memory.
Among other potential areas that may facilitate the recall of extinction in
the absence of the mPFC, we have explored the MO, the SEP, and the MD. The MO
and the MD have been found to display elevated metabolism in relation to
extinction of conditioned fear, indicating that the animals with higher neural
activity in these areas were more successful at inhibiting their conditioned
freezing response to tone (Barrett et al.
2003
). Additionally, high-frequency stimulation of the MD before
extinction training has been reported to facilitate retention of extinction,
while low-frequency stimulation of the same area during extinction training
inhibit the recall of extinction (Herry and
Garcia 2002
), confirming the function of the MD in inhibitory
processes of conditioned fear after extinction. However, despite this evidence
(Herry and Garcia 2002
;
Barrett et al. 2003
), our data
show that fear extinction can still be expressed without the MO or the MD.
Concerning the SEP, several studies that have repeatedly demonstrated that
cells in the dorsal septum increase their rates of firing in the presence of
stimuli that signal relief or safety and inhibit their rates of firing in the
presence of a CS initially paired with footshock
(Thomas and Yadin 1980
;
Yadin and Thomas 1981
;
Thomas et al. 1991
). However,
there is no direct evidence of the involvement of this area in fear
extinction. Our data, along with data reported by others
(Sparks and LeDoux 1995
;
Barrett et al. 2003
), suggest
that the SEP is not involved in extinction of freezing to a tone CS. These
data also suggest that the mechanisms of conditioned inhibition of fear that
activate the SEP (Thomas et al.
1991
) are different from the mechanisms involved in extinction of
conditioned fear (see also Jones and
Gonzalez-Lima 2001
; Barrett et
al. 2003
).
In conclusion, under the conditions used here, lesions of each of the known HPC output targets implicated in fear inhibition (MO, SEP, and MD), combined with mPFC lesions, are not sufficient to disrupt recall of fear extinction 7 d after training.
| Materials and Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Male Long-Evans rats (Harlan Sprague Dawley), weighing between 250 and 330 g, were housed in individual cages with 14-h light/10-h dark cycle (lights on at 7:00 a.m.), and allowed food and water ad libitum. During the first 5 d, they were handled for 15 sec/d to habituate them to the experimenter. Rats received either post-extinction or pre-conditioning lesions or were sham operated (SH). In both cases, rats were anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital (Nembutal, 65 mg/kg, i.p.), treated with atropine (0.04 mg/kg, i.p.), and placed in a stereotaxic frame for electrolytic lesions with stainless-steel electrodes insulated with Epoxylite, except for 0.5 mm at the tip. Electrodes targeted these regions (coordinates relative to bregma): the mPFC (AP, + 2.7 mm; ML, ± 0.5 mm; DV, -5.2 mm), the dorsal (AP, + 2.2 mm; ML, ± 0.8 mm; DV, -1.8) and lateral (AP, + 2.2 mm; ML, ± 3.0 mm; DV, -2.0 mm) MO, the SEP (AP, + 0.6; ML, ± 0.4 mm; DV, -5.3 mm), or the medial part of the MD (AP, -2.5 mm; ML, ± 0.8 mm; DV, -5.6 mm). Combined lesions included the mPFC and one of the other areas (MO + mPFC, SEP + mPFC, and MD + mPFC). Lesions were made with anodal constant direct current at each location (1.2 mA for 12 sec or 1 mA for 12 sec for SEP lesions), and the incision was closed with stainless-steel wound clips. The rats were allowed to recover for 7 d.
Apparatus
Eight identical observation chambers (30 x 24 x 21 cm;
MED-Associates) were used in all experiments. The chambers were constructed of
aluminum (side walls) and Plexiglas (rear wall, ceiling, and hinged front
door) and were situated in sound-attenuating cabinets located in a brightly
lighted and isolated room. The floor of each chamber consisted of 19 stainless
steel rods (4 mm in diameter) spaced 1.5 cm apart (center to center). Rods
were wired to a shock source and solid-state grid scrambler (MED-Associates)
for the delivery of footshock US (0.5 sec, 1 mA). A speaker mounted outside a
grating in one wall of the chamber was used for the delivery of acoustic CS (2
sec, 80 dB, 2 kHz). Two distinct contexts were used: context A and B. For
context A, a 15-W houselight mounted opposite the speaker was turned on, and
room lights remained on. The chambers were cleaned with a 1% acetic acid
solution. To provide a distinct odor, stainless steel pans containing a thin
layer of this solution were placed underneath the grid floors before the rats
were placed inside. Ventilation fans in each chest supplied background noise
(65 dB, A scale). Rats were transported to this context in white plastic
boxes. For context B, three 40-W red lights were the only source of
illumination, the ventilation fans were turned off, the chambers were cleaned
with a 1% ammonium hydroxide solution, and stainless-steel pans containing a
thin layer of this solution were placed underneath the grid floors before the
rats were placed inside to provide a distinct odor. Rats were transported to
this context in black plastic boxes. Additionally, each conditioning chamber
rested on a load-cell platform that was used to record chamber displacement in
response to each rat's motor activity, therefore allowing detection of
freezing behavior via a Threshold-Activity software (MED-Associates). Freezing
was quantified (Maren 1998
) by
computing the number of observations for each rat that had a value less than
the freezing threshold (load-cell activity = 5; animals exhibit freezing when
load cell activity is at or below this value). Freezing was determined during
the 60-sec interval after the 2-sec CS presentation during conditioning,
extinction, and the retention test, and during the 60-sec interval preceding
the first CS presentation during extinction training.
Procedure
Rats were submitted to three phases of training: fear conditioning,
extinction, and extinction retention test. In each group of rats,
50% of
animals were conditioned in context A, trained for extinction in context B,
and tested for extinction retention in context B, while the remaining subjects
were conditioned in context B, trained for extinction in A, and tested for
extinction retention in A. For fear conditioning, rats received five
tone-footshock trials (62-sec intertrial interval) beginning 3 min after being
placed in the chambers. Rats were returned to their home cages 3 min after the
final shock. The following day, groups receiving extinction training received
45 tone-alone presentations. The no-extinction groups were placed in the
chamber for the same amount of time but were not exposed to the tone CS. Seven
days following extinction training, all rats were returned to the extinction
context and exposed to five CS-alone presentations.
Histology and data analysis
Histological verification of lesion location was performed after behavioral testing. Rats were perfused across the heart with physiological saline followed by a 10% formalin solution. After extraction from the skull, brains were post-fixed in 10% formalin solution for 2 d, at which time the solution was replaced with a 10% formalin/30% sucrose solution until sectioning. Sections (50-µm thick) were cut on a cryostat (-20°C) and stained with 0.25% thionin for visualization of lesion. All behavioral data are expressed as means and standard error of the means (SE) and analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA).
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
4 E-mail rgarcia{at}unice.fr; fax 33-492-07-61-62.
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