Effects of mRNA Transcription Inhibition in the Amygdala on Cocaine-context Memory Reconsolidation (2009)

Undergraduate: Stephanie Kaszycki

Faculty Advisor: Rita Fuchs Lokensgard
Department: Biology

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When an association is made between a specific context and cocaine, it is put into long term storage in a process called consolidation. Upon re-exposure to the context, the association enters a labile state and must be restabilized, or reconsolidated, into long term memory. Here, I examined part of the molecular process of reconsolidation of cocaine-context memories in a rat model. Understanding the molecular basis of this process could have important implications in drug research as relapse can be triggered in addicts by exposure to cocaine-associated cues.
Re-exposure to cocaine-associated contexts has been shown to elicit cocaine seeking behavior in rats. However, if reconsolidation is blocked after re-exposure to the cocaine context, then the context will no longer evoke cocaine-seeking behavior. Previous my lab has shown that inhibition of protein synthesis in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a brain region often associated with emotional memories, can disrupt reconsolidation of cocaine context memories. The goal of this project is to analyze the effect of mRNA transcription inhibitors on the reconsolidation process. Because transcription is the process that precedes translation, it was hypothesized that inhibiting mRNA transcription in the BLA would disrupt reconsolidation. However, this study has shown that the inhibition of transcription in the BLA after re-exposure to the cocaine-paired context does not decrease cocaine seeking behavior in rats.