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Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos del Principado de Asturias).
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Psicothema, 2007. Vol. Vol. 19 (nº 2). 295-301




Brain c-Fos immunocytochemistry and cytochrome oxidase histochemistry after a fear conditioning task

Nélida M. Conejo, Héctor González Pardo, Matías López, Raúl Cantora and Jorge L. Arias

Universidad de Oviedo

The involvement of the basolateral and the medial amygdala in fear conditioning was evaluated using different markers of neuronal activation. The method described here is a combination of cytochrome oxidase (CO) histochemistry and c-Fos immunocytochemistry on fresh frozen brain sections. Freezing behavior was used as an index of auditory and contextual fear conditioning. As expected, freezing scores were significantly higher in rats exposed to tone-shock pairings in a distinctive environment (conditioned; COND), as compared to rats that did not receive any shocks (UNCD). CO labeling was increased in the basolateral and medial amygdala of the COND group. Conversely, c-Fos expression in the basolateral and medial amygdala was lower in the COND group as compared to the UNCD group. Furthermore, c-Fos expression was particularly high in the medial amygdala of the UNCD group. The data provided by both techniques indicate that these amygdalar nuclei could play different roles on auditory and contextual fear conditioning.

Inmunocitoquímica c-Fos e histoquímica citocromo oxidasa cerebral tras una tarea de condicionamiento al miedo. Se analiza la implicación de la amígdala basolateral y medial en el condicionamiento al miedo empleando diferentes marcadores de activación neuronal. El método que describimos es una combinación de la histoquímica citocromo oxidasa (CO) y la inmunocitoquímica c-Fos en secciones de tejido cerebral. La conducta de inmovilización se usó como índice del condicionamiento auditivo y contextual. Las puntuaciones obtenidas fueron significativamente mayores en ratas expuestas a emparejamientos tono-descarga en un ambiente distintivo (grupo COND), comparadas a las obtenidas en ratas que nunca recibieron descargas eléctricas (UNCD). La actividad CO se incrementó en la amígdala medial y basolateral del grupo COND. Sin embargo, la expresión c-Fos en estos núcleos fue inferior en el grupo COND comparado al grupo UNCD. Además, los niveles de la proteína c-Fos fueron más altos en la amígdala medial del grupo UNCD. Nuestros resultados muestran que los núcleos amigdalinos podrían jugar diferentes papeles en el condicionamiento al miedo auditivo y contextual.

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