A [14C]2-deoxy-D-glucose study of brain structures related to conditioned emotional response in the rat

We used [14C]2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) to determine activated brain structures related to conditioned emotional response (CER) in rats. The experimental groups were conditioned with paired conditioned-stimulus (CS; flickering light and clicking sound) and unconditioned-stimulus (US; foot-shock) for either 25 or 50 trials. The control groups were also exposed to the same stimuli but in unpaired or random sequence. Two days after conditioning, rats were intravenously injected with [14C]2-DG and then exposed to the CS alone (CER test) in a shock box. Mean optical densities of 44 brain structures were measured with an autoradiogram, and their optical density ratios were compared by 2-by-2 (paired vs unpaired and 25 vs 50 trials) analysis of variance. Those brain structures were of 2 types; the first type showed similar changes of 2-DG uptake in both paired and unpaired groups (Areas 7 and 40 of the cerebral cortex, the habenula and the colliculus inferior), while the second type showed that 2-DG uptake increased in the paired groups but decreased in the unpaired groups (Areas 24, 10, 6, 4 and 3 of the cerebral cortex), as a function of number of trials. Because changes of 2-DG uptake in the first type structures and in Areas 3, 4 and 6 of the second type structures are regarded to reflect learning-nonspecific effects and task- or stimuli-related symmetrical activation, respectively, we concluded that Areas 24 (anterior cingulate cortex) and 10 (prefrontal cortex) were specifically related to conditioned emotional response.