Uma dose única de metilprednisolona melhora a consolidação e a extinção da memória

Abstract

Aversive memory is essential for survival, but in some situations an exacerbation of this can be potentially dangerous. There are several ways to modulate memory, among them, stress-related hormones and substances analogous to them. Recently, our group has shown that a chronic treatment with a low dose (5mg/kg) of methylprednisolone (MP) is able to promote memory persistence. Here, we evaluate if a single dose of MP is able to improve aversive memory consolidation and promote memory persistence and extinction. For this, two experiments were carried out. In the first one, we demonstrated that 5mg/kg of MP administrated 2h after inhibitory avoidance training improves memory consolidation, promoting memory persistence. In the second experiment, we verified that a single dose of MP promotes memory extinction. Thus, a possible new clinical applicability is suggested for MP, however, more studies are needed to verify the mechanisms involved.