Formation of False Context Fear Memory Is Regulated by Hypothalamic Corticotropin-Releasing Factor in Mice.

ABSTRACT: Traumatic events frequently produce false fear memories. We investigated the effect of hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) knockdown (Hy-Crf-KD) or overexpression (Hy-CRF-OE) on contextual fear memory, as fear stress-released CRF and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation affects the memory system. Mice were placed in a chamber with an electric footshock as a conditioning stimulus (CS) in Context A, then exposed to a novel chamber without CS, as Context B, at 3 h (B-3h) or 24 h (B-24h). The freezing response in B-3h was intensified in the experimental mice, compared to control mice not exposed to CS, indicating that a false fear memory was formed at 3 h. The within-group freezing level at B-24h was higher than that at B-3h, indicating that false context fear me

SUBMITTER: Kasama E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9181353 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature