Figure 3.

Noradrenergic activation of the basolateral amygdala modulates consolidation of object recognition memory. A, Enhancing effects of posttraining intra-basolateral amygdala infusions of norepinephrine on 24-hour object recognition memory. Saline-infused controls displayed no evidence of memory of 3 minutes of training. The retention performance of groups given norepinephrine (0.3 or 1.0 μg in 0.2 μl) after training was significantly better than that of saline controls. Data presented as discrimination index (mean ± SEM) in percentage on the 24-hour retention trial. The discrimination index was calculated as the difference in time spent exploring the two objects, expressed as the ratio of the total time spent exploring both objects. B, Impairing effects of posttraining intra-basolateral amygdala infusions of the β-adrenoceptor antagonist propranolol on 24-hour object recognition memory. All groups received 10 minutes of training. Saline-infused controls displayed significant memory and propranolol (0.1, 0.3 or 1.0 μg in 0.2 μl) produced dose-dependent impairment of memory. The performance of all three propranolol groups differed significantly from that of the corresponding saline controls. ★, P < 0.05; ★ ★, P < 0.01 as compared to the corresponding saline controls. From Roozendaal et al., 2008b.