Extinction learning with social support depends on protein synthesis in prefrontal cortex but not hippocampus.

Extinction of contextual fear conditioning (CFC) in the presence of a familiar nonfearful conspecific (social support), such as that of others tasks, can occur regardless of whether the original memory is retrieved during the extinction training. Extinction with social support is blocked by the protein synthesis inhibitors anisomycin and rapamycin and by the inhibitor of gene expression 5,6-dichloro-1-ß-d-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole infused immediately after extinction training into the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) but unlike regular CFC extinction not in the CA1 region of the dorsal hippocampus. So social support generates a form of learning that differs from extinction acquired without social support in terms of the brain structures involved. This finding may lead to a better understanding of the brain mechanisms involved in the social support of memories and in therapies for disorders related to dysfunctional fear memories. Thus, here we show that the consolidation of extinction memory with social support relies on vmPFC rather than hippocampus gene expression and ribosomal- and mammalian target of rapamycin-dependent protein synthesis. These results provide additional knowledge about the cellular mechanisms and brain structures involved on the effect of social support in changing behavior and fear extinction memory.

The blockade of the serotoninergic receptors 5-HT5A, 5-HT6 and 5-HT7 in the basolateral amygdala, but not in the hippocampus facilitate the extinction of fear memory.

Extinction is the learned inhibition of retrieval. It is the mainstay of exposure therapy, which is widely used to treat drug addiction, phobias and fear-related pathologies such as post-traumatic stress disorder. The serotonin (5-HT) system is positioned to modulate the extinction circuitry via ascending 5-HT projections that innervate certain brain structures including the hippocampus and the basolateral amygdala (BLA). The most recently described serotoninergic receptors 5-HT5A, 5-HT6, 5-HT7 affect different memory processes and so are putative therapeutic targets for disorders related to cognition; however, their role in the extinction of contextual fear conditioning (CFC) has not been studied yet. Here we investigate the role of these receptors in the CA1 region of the hippocampus and the BLA in the extinction of CFC. For this, male rats were implanted with cannulae in the CA1 or in the BLA region through which they received immediately or 3 h after extinction training of CFC infusions of SB699551 (10 µg/side), 5-HT5A antagonist; WAY-208466 (0.04 µg/side), 5-HT6 agonist; SB-271046A (10 µg/side), 5-HT6 antagonist; AS-19 (5 µg/side), 5-HT7 agonist; SB-269970 (5 µg/side), 5-HT7 antagonist. After 24 h, animals were submitted to a 3 min extinction test. Results show that the infusion immediately after extinction training of 5-HT5A, 5-HT6 and 5-HT7 antagonists, and 3 h after extinction training of 5-HT5A and 5-HT7 antagonists in the BLA region, but not in CA1, facilitates the extinction of CFC memory.