Galanin administration into the prelimbic cortex impairs consolidation and expression of contextual fear conditioning

Jessica M Hooversmith; Dionnet L Bhatti; Philip V Holmes

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112160

Galanin administration into the prelimbic cortex impairs consolidation and expression of contextual fear conditioning

Behav Brain Res. 2019 Dec 16:375:112160. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112160. Epub 2019 Aug 18.

Authors

Jessica M Hooversmith¹, Dionnet L Bhatti², Philip V Holmes³

Affiliations

¹ Neuroscience Division of the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, University of Georgia, 310 E Campus Road, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
² Psychology Department, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin Street, Athens, GA, 30602, USA; Dionnet L. Bhatti is now in the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience at The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
³ Neuroscience Division of the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, University of Georgia, 310 E Campus Road, Athens, GA, 30602, USA; Psychology Department, University of Georgia, 125 Baldwin Street, Athens, GA, 30602, USA. Electronic address: pvholmes@uga.edu.

PMID: 31434003
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.112160

Abstract

The neuropeptide galanin is a potential therapeutic target for treating stress-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, its effects on contextual fear conditioning (CFC), an accepted animal model of PTSD, are not well understood. Dysregulation of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is implicated in PTSD. We investigated the effects of galanin (1 ug) administrated bilaterally into the prelimbic cortex, a division of the mPFC, on the consolidation, expression, and extinction of CFC of male Sprague-Dawley rats. Galanin administration significantly reduced consolidation and expression of CFC, but had no effect on retention or retrieval of extinction learning. These data further implicate galanin as a potential therapeutic target for treating stress-related disorders, particularly those characterized by aberrant emotional memory.

Keywords: Contextual fear conditioning; Galanin; Medial prefrontal cortex; Post-Traumatic stress disorder; Prelimbic cortex.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Conditioning, Classical / drug effects
Conditioning, Operant / drug effects
Disease Models, Animal
Extinction, Psychological / drug effects
Fear / physiology
Galanin / metabolism
Galanin / pharmacology*
Male
Memory / physiology
Memory Consolidation / drug effects*
Prefrontal Cortex / drug effects*
Prefrontal Cortex / metabolism
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / drug therapy

Substances

Galanin