Amygdala lesions do not impair shock-probe avoidance retention performance.

Arnygdala Lesions Do Not Impair Shock-Probe Avoidance Retention Performance Hugo LehmannThe present experiment used the shock-probe paradigm, a procedure usually used to assess anxiolytic processes, to assess memory in amygdala-lesioned rats.Rats were placed in a chamber that contained a probe protmding from 1 of 4 walls and were kcpt in the chamber for 15 min after they contacted the probe.For half the rats, the probe was electrified (2 mA).Four days later, sham or neurotoxic arnygdala lesions were induced.Retention performance kvas assessed 8 days later by measuring the latency to contact the probe and the number of contact-induced shocks.The resuIts indicated that, although shock-naïve amygdala-lesioned rats were irnpaired on the second shock-probe test, shock-experienced amygdala-lesioned rats were not.These data indicate that the memory of a shock expenence, as indexed vvith a shock probe avoidance response, is spared in rats with large amygdala lesions. 1 am greatly indebted to my graduate supervisor Dr. Marise B. Parent for the guidance, supervision, and