NMDA RECEPTOR-MEDIATED ARC EXPRESSION IN DORSAL AND VENTRAL HIPPOCAMPUS CONTRIBUTES TO THE ACQUISITION OF TRACE AND CONTEXTUAL FEAR CONDITIONING By

........................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................iv TABLE OF CONTENTS.....................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................1 PROJECT OBJECTIVE....................................................................................................19 GENERAL METHODS......................................................................................................21 EXPERIMENT 1. Effects of NMDA receptor antagonism in dorsal or ventral hippocampus on the acquisition of trace and contextual fear conditioning....26 EXPERIMENT 2. The role of Arc in trace fear conditioning..................................47 EXPERIMENT 3. The effect of blocking Arc translation in VH on the acquisition of delay fear conditioning...........................................................................................70 EXPERIMENT 4. The effect of NMDA receptor antagonism in dorsal or ventral hippocampus on the learning-induced enhancement of Arc protein................76 GENERAL DISCUSSION................................................................................................80 REFERENCES..................................................................................................................91 FIGURES..................................................................................................................99-127