Increased voluntary ethanol consumption and c-Fos expression in selected brain areas induced by fear memory retrieval in ethanol withdrawn rats

Abstract Withdrawal from chronic ethanol administration facilitated the formation of contextual fear memory. The effect of fear memory retrieval on subsequent ethanol consumption, by employing a two-bottle free-choice procedure with either water or ethanol (2–8% v/v), was investigated in ethanol withdrawn rats. The effect of fear memory extinction with or without d -cycloserine (DCS, 5 mg/kg i.p.) on subsequent ethanol consumption was also evaluated. In addition, we examined c-Fos expression in different brain areas following the fear memory recall. The retrieval of such fear memory induced a significant increase in ethanol consumption in ethanol withdrawn but not in control animals. Regardless of DCS treatment, this increase was attenuated by extinction training. In ethanol withdrawn rats, context-dependent memory retrieval was accompanied by an increased c-Fos expression in the basolateral amygdala, ventrolateral periaqueductal gray, dentate gyrus and dorsomedial periaqueductal gray. Among these brain areas suggested to be implicated in the modulation of motivation and of emotional states, the basolateral amygdala has a crucial role in the emergence of negative affective state during ethanol withdrawal. These data suggest that retrieval of fear memory in ethanol withdrawn rats affected ethanol consumption and that amygdala may be involved in this effect.