A role for prefrontal cortex in the extinction of a conditioned taste aversion

Brain Res. 2005 Jul 27;1051(1-2):176-82. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2005.05.033.

Abstract

This study used immunohistochemical methods to determine if the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is involved in the extinction of a conditioned taste aversion (CTA). As rats reached 90% reacceptance of a tastant (saccharin: SAC) that had previously been associated with lithium chloride-induced malaise, c-Fos protein expression increased dramatically as compared to animals with active CTAs, animals without CTAs (i.e., explicitly unpaired CS-US exposures) or animals drinking SAC for the first time. These data indicate a role for mPFC (prelimbic and infralimbic cortex) in the formation of a CTA extinction memory.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Avoidance Learning / physiology*
  • Conditioning, Classical / physiology*
  • Extinction, Psychological / physiology*
  • Male
  • Prefrontal Cortex / physiology*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / metabolism
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Taste / physiology*

Substances

  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos