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D-Cycloserine enhances conditioned taste aversion learning in rats.
Melissa Nunnink1, Rachel A Davenport, Breyda Ortega
1Department of Biological Sciences, Program in Neuroscience, BRF 252 MC 4340, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
|June 15, 2007
Summary
The NMDA receptor glycine-binding site enhances conditioned taste aversion (CTA) learning. D-cycloserine, an agonist, strengthened CTA, while HA-966 blocked this effect, confirming the site
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Learning and Memory
Background:
- Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is a learned association between a taste and a toxin.
- NMDA receptor activity is crucial for CTA, but the role of its glycine-binding site remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of the NMDA receptor glycine-binding site on CTA formation and extinction.
- To examine the role of D-cycloserine, a glycinergic NMDA receptor agonist, in CTA.
Main Methods:
- Rats were administered D-cycloserine or vehicle before saccharin exposure, followed by LiCl injection.
- CTA was assessed via two-bottle preference tests.
- Follow-up experiments used HA-966 (a glycine site antagonist), assessed D-cycloserine's aversive effects, and measured c-Fos expression in brain regions.
Main Results:
- D-cycloserine significantly enhanced CTA formation and slowed extinction compared to controls.
- The enhancing effect of D-cycloserine was blocked by HA-966, indicating specificity to the NMDA receptor glycine site.
- D-cycloserine did not induce CTA alone at lower doses, nor did it increase LiCl-induced behaviors or c-Fos expression.
Conclusions:
- The NMDA receptor glycine-binding site plays a critical role in mediating NMDA receptor-dependent CTA.
- Targeting the NMDA receptor glycine site represents a potential strategy for modulating taste aversion learning.
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