Differing effects of systemically administered rapamycin on consolidation and reconsolidation of context vs. cued fear memories
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30302, USA; Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30329, USA
Abstract
Rapamycin, an inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase, has attracted interest as a possible prophylactic for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-associated fear memories. We report here that although rapamycin (40 mg/kg, i.p.) disrupted the consolidation and reconsolidation of fear-potentiated startle paradigm to a shock-paired context, it did not disrupt startle increases to a 4-sec odor cue, even though post-training increases in amygdala mTOR activity were prevented by rapamycin (also 40 mg/kg, i.p.). Thus, while rapamycin may prove useful in retarding the development of some PTSD-associated memories, its relative ineffectiveness against cued fear memories may limit its clinical usefulness.
Footnotes
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↵1 Corresponding author.
E-mail eglover{at}emory.edu; fax (404) 727-8070.
- Received June 16, 2010.
- Accepted August 24, 2010.
- © 2010 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
