Induction of Zenk protein expression within the nucleus taeniae of the amygdala of pigeons following tone and shock stimulation

Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research

I. Brito²  L.r.g. Britto¹  E.a.m. Ferrari¹ 

[1] ,Universidade Metropolitana de Santos Departamento de Fisiologia Santos SP ,Brasil

关键词: Amygdala;    Nucleus taeniae of the amygdala;    Fear conditioning;    Zenk;    Pigeon;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0100-879X2011007500066

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

In this study, we evaluated the expression of the Zenk protein within the nucleus taeniae of the pigeon’s amygdala (TnA) after training in a classical aversive conditioning, in order to improve our understanding of its functional role in birds. Thirty-two 18-month-old adult male pigeons (Columba livia), weighing on average 350 g, were trained under different conditions: with tone-shock associations (experimental group; EG); with shock-alone presentations (shock group; SG); with tone-alone presentations (tone group; TG); with exposure to the training chamber without stimulation (context group; CG), and with daily handling (naive group; NG). The number of immunoreactive nuclei was counted in the whole TnA region and is reported as density of Zenk-positive nuclei. This density of Zenk-positive cells in the TnA was significantly greater for the EG, SG and TG than for the CG and NG (P < 0.05). The data indicate an expression of Zenk in the TnA that was driven by experience, supporting the role of this brain area as a critical element for neural processing of aversive stimuli as well as meaningful novel stimuli.

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