Ricerc@Sapienza

Drugs of abuse have long been recognized to affect memory processes. Here we tested the effects of two psychostimulants, Amphetamine and the “bath salt” MDPV, on the accuracy of memory. We used the inhibitory avoidance (IA) discrimination task, a novel variant of the IA task suitable to study memory accuracy in rodents. Rats were trained and tested in three different contextually modified IA boxes, two visited during the training session and one visited only during the test session.

Human studies have consistently shown that drugs of abuse affect memory function. The psychostimulants amphetamine and the “bath salt” 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) increase brain monoamine levels through a similar, yet not identical, mechanism of action. Findings indicate that amphetamine enhances the consolidation of memory for emotional experiences, but still MDPV effects on memory function are underinvestigated. Here, we tested the effects induced by these two drugs on generalization of fear memory and their relative neurobiological underpinnings.