Figure 3.

Schematic representation of infusion sites (A) and a representative photograph (B) illustrating cannula placement in the perirhinal cortex. (C) Schematic representation that summarizes the results of this study. Novel objects are depicted as a dotted-line circle since the memory trace of these stimuli are unstable; stable familiar objects memories traces are symbolized as a continued-line circle. On sample phase, new objects (“A”) have an unstable memory trace; object “A” becomes familiar through consolidation process. On the reactivation phase, behavioral output of familiar objects is impaired by inactivation of AMPA receptors through CNQX infusion in the perirhinal cortex, then trace for familiar object “A” turns unstable again since animals do not show preference for any object. However, the effect of CNQX is transient since animals showed preference for the new object (“C”); these results indicated that STM or reconsolidation for object “A” was not impaired by CNQX. Conversely, the inactivation of the NMDA receptors by AP5 infusions disrupts reconsolidation, even on conditions where retrieval was blocked. Importantly, STM was unaffected by AP5.