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Protocol Steps
1
Housing and environment setup
House mice in groups of up to 6 same-sex animals with ad libitum food and water access in temperature-controlled facility at 22°C with 35-45% humidity on 12/12h light/dark cycle
ongoing
View evidence from paper
“Up to six same sex mice were group-housed in large (11 × 9 × 6.5 in) cages with ad libitum access to food and water”
2
Fear conditioning training
Conduct delayed fear conditioning in context A with tone CS (10 or 25 sec, 50 db, 4.0 kHz) immediately preceding footshocks (0.75 or 0.3 mA). Use various CS:US pairing ratios including 3:3, 6:6 for consistent reinforcement or 6:3, 12:6, 30:3 for partial reinforcement
“All experiments consisted of one or 2 days of delayed FC, during which 10 or 25 sec tones (50 db, 4.0 kHz), serving as conditioned stimuli (CS), immediately preceded 0.75 or 0.3 mA footshocks”
3
Context A setup for fear conditioning
Set up context A with metal rod floor grid, clean with 30% white vinegar solution, use standard walls and lights on
“FC training took place in context A: a metal rod floor grid, scented and cleaned with 30% white vinegar in water, standard walls (see apparatus details above), and lights on”
4
Fear extinction training
Conduct fear extinction training in context B for 1-3 consecutive days with 12 unreinforced CS exposures per day
between one and three consecutive days
View evidence from paper
“Following FC, mice received between one and three consecutive days of FE training, each day of which consisted of 12 unreinforced exposures to the CS”
5
Context B setup for extinction
Set up context B with semicircular white acrylic wall and white acrylic flooring, clean with 75% ethanol solution, lights off
not specified
View evidence from paper
“FE and the 4 CS tone-tests were conducted in context B: a semicircular white acrylic wall and white acrylic flooring, scented and cleaned with 75% ethanol in water, lights off”
6
Memory testing
Test recent and remote fear extinction memory by exposing mice to 4 CS tones at 2 and 30 days after extinction training
testing at 2 and 30 days post-extinction
View evidence from paper
“To assess the strength of recent and remote FE memory, mice were exposed to four CS at 2 and 30 days after extinction training”
