Appetitive Pavlovian goal-tracking memory reconsolidation is reduced by both adrenergic and NMDA receptor antagonism
Discuss this preprint
Start a discussion What are Sciety discussions?Listed in
This article is not in any list yet, why not save it to one of your lists.Abstract
Rationale
Appetitive Pavlovian cues can drive maladaptive reward seeking via stimulus–reward memories. Disrupting memory reconsolidation offers a potential strategy to reduce their influence, but evidence for β-adrenergic blockade with propranolol is inconsistent across behavioural paradigms, particularly relative to NMDA receptor antagonism.
Objectives
We tested whether propranolol disrupts reconsolidation of appetitive sucrose memories in a discriminative goal-tracking paradigm, and compared its effects with those of the most commonly used NMDA receptor antagonist, MK-801.
Methods
Adult Lister hooded rats underwent discriminative Pavlovian conditioning. Thirty minutes before a brief memory reminder (non-reinforced or reinforced), rats received systemic drug treatment or saline control. In study 1, MK-801 (0.1 mg/kg) was administered to male rats. In study 2, propranolol (10 mg/kg) was administered to equal numbers of male and female rats. Goal-tracking was tested drug-free at 1 and 8 days.
Results
In study 1, MK-801 impaired subsequent discriminated responding at test. These effects were observed not only when reminder was non-reinforced as in previous successful demonstrations, but also with reinforced reminder. In study 2, Propranolol also impaired subsequent goal-tracking, regardless of reminder type, and the effects were consistent across sexes.
Conclusions
Propranolol can disrupt reconsolidation of appetitive goal-tracking memories to a similar extent as MK-801 under conditions that promote memory destabilisation. These findings demonstrate that β-adrenergic blockade can impair appetitive memory reconsolidation in a goal-tracking paradigm, challenging prior null findings and revitalising the potential for propranolol-based interventions in maladaptive reward-seeking behaviours.
