Enhancement of spatial learning by predator odor in mice: Involvement of amygdala and hippocampus |
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| Authors: | Emmanuel Galliot Maryline Levaillant Elidie Beard Jean-Louis Millot Gregory Pourié |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany;2. Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany;3. Integrative Neurocience Program, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany;1. Department of Animal Behavior, College of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt;2. Department of Animal Behavior, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, Jiangsu, China;1. Department of Morphology, Laboratory of Neuroanatomy, Biosciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil;2. Department of Physiology, Laboratory of Neurochemical Studies, Biosciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil;3. Department of Physiology, Laboratory of Memory Studies, Biosciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | Olfaction has particular links with learning and memory compared with other sensory cues, due to the interrelations between their neural circuitry. The present study deals with the effects of a putative stressor (i.e. a predator odor) on visuo-spatial learning in mice. Firstly, the results show that a predator odor spread during the Morris water maze task led to learning enhancement. In addition, a stereotaxic approach was used to investigate the involvement of the amygdala in this hippocampus-dependent type of learning. Thus, the performance of mice in visuo-spatial learning under predator odor conditions was dramatically reduced by an ibotenate bilateral amygdala lesion. The involvement of the amygdala was confirmed by a reduced expression of c-fos in the CA1 hippocampus of amygdala-lesioned mice at the end of the learning procedure.Mild exposure to a predator odor during hippocampus-dependent learning therefore leads to an enhancement of performance through the co-activation of the amygdala, probably by a stress mediated mechanism. |
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