Increasing histone acetylation in the hippocampus-infralimbic network enhances fear extinction.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A key finding from recent studies of epigenetic mechanisms of memory is that increasing histone acetylation after a learning experience enhances memory consolidation. This has been demonstrated in several preparations, but little is known about whether excitatory and inhibitory memories are equally sensitive to drugs that promote histone acetylation and how transcriptional changes in the hippocampal-medial prefrontal cortex network contribute to these drug effects.

Methods

We compare the long-term behavioral consequences of systemic, intrahippocampal and intra-medial prefrontal cortex administration of the histone deacetylase inhibitor sodium butyrate (NaB) after contextual fear conditioning and extinction 1 and/or 14 days later in male c57BL/6J mice (n = 302). Le

SUBMITTER: Stafford JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3352991 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature