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Infusion of methylphenidate into the basolateral nucleus of amygdala or anterior cingulate cortex enhances fear memory consolidation in rats

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Abstract

The psychostimulant methylphenidate (MPD; also called Ritalin) is a blocker of dopamine and norepinephrine transporter. It has been clinically used for treatment of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). There have been inconsistent reports regarding the effects of systemically administered MPD on learning and memory, either in animals or humans. In the present study, we investigated the effect of direct infusion of MPD into the basolateral nucleus of amygdala (BLA) or the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) on conditioned fear memory. Rats were trained on a one-trial step-through inhibitory avoidance task. MPD was infused bilaterally into the BLA or the ACC, either at ‘0’ or 6 h post-training. Saline was administered as control. Memory retention was tested 48 h post-training. Intra-BLA or intra-ACC infusion of MPD ‘0’ h but not 6 h post-training significantly improved 48-h memory retention: the MPD-treated rats had significant longer step-through latency than controls. The present results indicate that action of MPD in the BLA or the ACC produces a beneficial effect on the consolidation of inhibitory avoidance memory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neurobiology and State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China

    XinLing Zheng, Fang Liu & BaoMing Li

  2. Zha-Bei Central Hospital, Shanghai, 200070, China

    XingWen Wu

  3. Department of Biology, Huaibei Coal Industry Teachers College, Anhui, 235000, China

    XinLing Zheng

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  1. XinLing Zheng
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  2. Fang Liu
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  4. BaoMing Li
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Correspondence to BaoMing Li.

Additional information

Supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant Nos. 2006CB500807 and 2006AA02Z199), the Ministry of Education of China (Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 30225023, 30430240 and 30611120530)

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Zheng, X., Liu, F., Wu, X. et al. Infusion of methylphenidate into the basolateral nucleus of amygdala or anterior cingulate cortex enhances fear memory consolidation in rats. SCI CHINA SER C 51, 808–813 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-008-0105-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-008-0105-x

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