Source Paper
Neural Structures Mediating Expression and Extinction of Platform-Mediated Avoidance
Christian Bravo-Rivera, Ciorana Roman-Ortiz, Edith Brignoni-Perez, Francisco Sotres-Bayon, Gregory J. Quirk
Journal of Neuroscience • 2014
Active Avoidance Task
Objective: To develop and validate an active avoidance task in which rats learn to avoid a tone-signaled footshock by stepping onto a nearby platform, and to identify neural circuits mediating avoidance expression and extinction
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Protocol Steps
Avoidance training initiation
Rats begin active avoidance training where they learn to step onto a nearby platform to avoid a tone-signaled footshock
Note: Training period spans 10 days total
View evidence from paper
“After 10 d of avoidance training”
Tone-shock pairing
During training, tone stimulus is paired with footshock to establish avoidance learning
Note: Freezing is reduced in this task compared to passive avoidance, facilitating comparison of avoidance versus freezing effects
View evidence from paper
“rats learn to avoid a tone-signaled footshock by stepping onto a nearby platform. An advantage of this task is that freezing, which can interfere with avoidance, is reduced”
Pharmacological inactivation
After 10 days of training, muscimol is infused to pharmacologically inactivate specific brain regions (prelimbic cortex, infralimbic cortex, ventral striatum, or basolateral amygdala)
Note: Four different brain regions tested: PL, IL, VS, and BLA
View evidence from paper
“After 10 d of avoidance training, rats were infused with muscimol to pharmacologically inactivate the prelimbic cortex (PL), infralimbic cortex (IL), ventral striatum (VS), or basolateral amygdala (BLA)”
Avoidance expression testing
Test avoidance behavior following muscimol inactivation to assess effects on avoidance expression
Note: Inactivating PL, VS, or BLA impaired avoidance expression; IL inactivation did not impair expression
View evidence from paper
“Inactivating PL, VS, or BLA all impaired avoidance expression”
Freezing behavior assessment
Measure freezing behavior in response to tone stimulus following muscimol inactivation
Note: Different brain regions showed differential effects on freezing: BLA inactivation decreased freezing, VS inactivation increased freezing, PL inactivation had no effect
View evidence from paper
“Inactivating BLA decreased freezing consistent with loss of the tone–shock association, whereas inactivation of VS increased freezing consistent with loss of avoidance memory. Inactivation of PL had no effect on freezing”
Avoidance extinction testing
Test avoidance extinction following muscimol inactivation
Note: IL inactivation impaired avoidance extinction despite not affecting expression
View evidence from paper
“Inactivation of IL did not impair avoidance expression but did impair avoidance extinction”