Abstract
To identify brain areas involved in ethanol-induced Pavlovian conditioning, brains of male DBA/2J mice were immunohistochemically analyzed for FOS expression after exposure to a conditioned stimulus (CS) previously paired with ethanol (2 g/kg) in two experiments. Mice were trained with a procedure that normally produces place preference (Before: ethanol before the CS) or one that normally produces place aversion (After: ethanol after the CS). Control groups received unpaired ethanol injections in the home cage (Delay) or saline only (Naïve). On the test day, mice were exposed to the 5-min CS 90 min before sacrifice. Before groups showed a conditioned increase in activity, whereas the After group showed a conditioned decrease in activity. FOS expression after a drug-free CS exposure was significantly higher in Before-group mice than in control mice in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (Experiment 1) and anterior ventral tegmental area (Experiments 1-2). Conditioned FOS responses were also seen in areas of the extended amygdala and hippocampus (Experiment 2). However, no conditioned FOS changes were seen in any brain area examined in After-group mice. Overall, these data suggest an important role for the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, extended amygdala and hippocampus in ethanol-induced conditioning.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 208-221 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior |
Volume | 87 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2007 |
Keywords
- Amygdala
- Bed nucleus of stria terminalis
- Conditioned place preference
- Conditioning
- Ethanol
- FOS
- Hippocampus
- Inbred mice (DBA/2J)
- Locomotor activity
- Ventral tegmental area
- c-Fos
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Toxicology
- Pharmacology
- Clinical Biochemistry
- Biological Psychiatry
- Behavioral Neuroscience