ERIC Number: EJ838066
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Mar
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1072-0502
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Enhanced Generalization of Auditory Conditioned Fear in Juvenile Mice
Ito, Wataru; Pan, Bing-Xing; Yang, Chao; Thakur, Siddarth; Morozov, Alexei
Learning & Memory, v16 n3 p187-192 Mar 2009
Increased emotionality is a characteristic of human adolescence, but its animal models are limited. Here we report that generalization of auditory conditioned fear between a conditional stimulus (CS+) and a novel auditory stimulus is stronger in 4-5-wk-old mice (juveniles) than in their 9-10-wk-old counterparts (adults), whereas nonassociative sensitization induced by foot shock (US) and the ability to discriminate CS+ from an explicitly unpaired stimulus (CS-) are not dependent on age. These results suggest that aversive associations are less precise in juvenile mice and can more easily produce conditional responses to stimuli different from CS+. Yet, through the explicit unpairing of CS- from US during training, juveniles are able to overcome this greater fear generalization and learn that CS- is not associated with foot shock. (Contains 5 figures.)
Descriptors: Animals, Generalization, Fear, Conditioning, Models, Auditory Stimuli, Associative Learning, Learning Processes
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. 500 Sunnyside Boulevard, Woodbury, NY 11797-2924. Tel: 800-843-4388; Tel: 516-367-8800; Fax: 516-422-4097; e-mail: cshpres@cshl.edu; Web site: http://www.learnmem.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A