V-057
Aversive Memory Expression and Extinction in a Virtual Reality Environment
Paloma Lucía Ramírez1, Franco Gómez Rodriguez1
  1. Laboratorio Bases Neuronales de Comportamiento, IFIByNE (UBA-CONICET)
Presenting Author:
Paloma Lucía Ramírez
palomaramirez111@gmail.com
Memory is an essential component of our existence, allowing us to store and retrieve past experiences to optimize behavior and adapt to our environment. Maladaptive memories, which sustain dysfunctional emotional patterns, can negatively impact an individual's well-being. The formation of these emotional memories involves the interaction of various cerebral structures within the limbic circuit. In this project, we utilize 3-4 month-old male C57BL/6 mice in a head-fixed system where their displacement on a rotating cylinder is translated into a virtual reality (VR) visual input. This VR environment, generated with the Godot engine, simulates an infinite hallway with a 2m corridor and a 30cm reward zone where water is delivered. The research protocol is divided into three phases. The first is Appetitive Training, where mice learn to associate a tone (apCS+) with a water reward to maximize their movement on the track. This is followed by Aversive Training, a two-day process where the animals are conditioned to a tone (avCS+) which is paired with an electrical shock. Their conditioned fear response, or freezing, is recorded and quantified. The final phase is Extinction, where the mice are repeatedly exposed to the aversive tone without the shock. The reduction in freezing behavior, measured as a decrease in roller speed, provides a quantifiable metric of the extinction process. This will allow recording of different components of the limbic system and study the extinction process