Alteration of BDNF in the medial prefrontal cortex and the ventral hippocampus impairs extinction of avoidance.

ABSTRACT: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is critical for establishing activity-related neural plasticity. There is increasing interest in the mechanisms of active avoidance and its extinction, but little is known about the role of BDNF in these processes. Using the platform-mediated avoidance task combined with local infusions of an antibody against BDNF, we show that blocking BDNF in either prelimbic (PL) or infralimbic (IL) medial prefrontal cortex during extinction training impairs subsequent recall of extinction of avoidance, differing from extinction of conditioned freezing. By combining retrograde tracers with BDNF immunohistochemistry, we show that extinction of avoidance increases BDNF expression in ventral hippocampal (vHPC) neurons, but not amygdala neurons, projecting to PL and

SUBMITTER: Rosas-Vidal LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6224579 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature