Fear-Potentiated Startle with Amygdala NMDA Antagonist Infusion
Objective: To investigate the role of NMDA receptors in the amygdala during extinction of conditioned fear responses using the fear-potentiated startle paradigm
This is a Fear-Potentiated Startle with Amygdala NMDA Antagonist Infusion protocol using Not explicitly stated in provided text as the model organism. The procedure involves 6 procedural steps, 1 equipment items, 2 materials. Extracted from a 1992 paper published in Journal of Neuroscience.
Model and subjects
Not explicitly stated in provided text • Not explicitly stated in provided text • Not explicitly stated in provided text • Not explicitly stated in provided text • Not explicitly stated in provided text • Not explicitly stated in provided text
Study window
Estimated timing pending
Core workflow
Fear conditioning with conditioned stimulus • Surgical implantation of infusion cannula • Infusion of AP5 into amygdala
Primary readouts
- Extinction of fear-potentiated startle response
- Dose-dependent blockade of extinction by AP5
- Startle response magnitude during extinction trials
- Sensitivity to conditioned stimulus
Key equipment and reagents
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Protocol Steps
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Fear conditioning with conditioned stimulus
Animals are exposed to a conditioned stimulus paired with an unconditioned stimulus to establish fear conditioning
Note: This establishes the baseline conditioned fear response to be extinguished
View evidence from paper
“the fear-potentiated startle paradigm was employed to begin to investigate neural mechanisms of extinction”
Surgical implantation of infusion cannula
Cannula implanted into the amygdala for drug infusion during extinction trials
Note: Amygdala is the target site; interpositus nucleus of cerebellum used as control site
View evidence from paper
“infusion of the NMDA antagonist D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (AP5) into the amygdala”
Infusion of AP5 into amygdala
NMDA antagonist AP5 infused into the amygdala in dose-dependent amounts prior to extinction trials
Note: Dose-dependent blockade of extinction observed
View evidence from paper
“infusion of the NMDA antagonist D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (AP5) into the amygdala, a limbic structure known to be important for fear conditioning, dose-dependently blocked extinction of conditioned fear”
Extinction trials with conditioned stimulus presentation
Conditioned stimulus presented repeatedly without unconditioned stimulus to measure extinction of fear response
Note: Startle response measured during extinction trials
View evidence from paper
“the fear-potentiated startle paradigm was employed to begin to investigate neural mechanisms of extinction”
Control infusion into interpositus nucleus
AP5 infused into interpositus nucleus of cerebellum as anatomical control to verify amygdala-specific effects
Note: Control site infusion did not block extinction
View evidence from paper
“Infusion of AP5 into the interpositus nucleus of the cerebellum, a control site, did not block extinction”
Control infusion of non-NMDA antagonist
6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione infused into amygdala as pharmacological control
Note: Non-NMDA antagonist did not block extinction, supporting NMDA-specific mechanism
View evidence from paper
“intra-amygdala infusion of a selected dose of the non-NMDA antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione did not block extinction of conditioned fear”