Memory impairment induced by intraamygdala beta-endorphin is mediated by noradrenergic influences

These experiments examined the effects on memory in two tasks, inhibitory avoidance and water-maze spatial learning, of intraamygdala injections of drugs affecting noradrenergic and opiate receptors. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (180 g, 50 days old on arrival) were given either a single training trial in an inhibitory avoidance task or eight trials in a water-maze task in which they were trained to swim to a platform submerged 1 cm below the water surface and located in a constant position. Intra-amygdala injections of beta-endorphin (0.03 or 0.1 ng), clenbuterol (10 or 30 ng), or propranolol (0.3 microgram) were given alone or concurrently: beta-endorphin (0.1 ng) + clenbuterol (10 or 30 ng) or beta-endorphin (0.03 ng) + propranolol (0.3 microgram). The injections (0.5 microliter) were administered immediately after inhibitory avoidance training and 5 min before water-maze training. Inhibitory avoidance retention was tested 48 h after training and water-maze retention was tested 24 h after training. In both tasks, clenbuterol attenuated the retention impairing effect of beta-endorphin. Also, in both tasks, low doses of beta-endorphin (0.03 ng) and propranolol (0.3 microgram), which did not affect retention when administered alone, impaired retention when administered concurrently. These results are consistent with extensive previous evidence suggesting that opioid and noradrenergic systems interact in modulating memory storage and provide additional support for the view that the interaction is due to opioid inhibition of noradrenergic activation within the amygdala.