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Article

CB1 Activity Drives the Selection of Navigational Strategies: A Behavioral and c-Fos Immunoreactivity Study

Laboratory of Experimental and Behavioral Neurophysiology, Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00143 Rome, Italy
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Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(3), 1072; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21031072
Received: 9 December 2019 / Revised: 29 January 2020 / Accepted: 31 January 2020 / Published: 6 February 2020
To promote efficient explorative behaviors, subjects adaptively select spatial navigational strategies based on landmarks or a cognitive map. The hippocampus works alone or in conjunction with the dorsal striatum, both representing the neuronal underpinnings of the navigational strategies organized on the basis of different systems of spatial coordinate integration. The high expression of cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptors in structures related to spatial learning—such as the hippocampus, dorsal striatum and amygdala—renders the endocannabinoid system a critical target to study the balance between landmark- and cognitive map-based navigational strategies. In the present study, mice treated with the CB1-inverse agonist/antagonist AM251 or vehicle were trained on a Circular Hole Board, a task that could be solved through either navigational strategy. At the end of the behavioral testing, c-Fos immunoreactivity was evaluated in specific nuclei of the hippocampus, dorsal striatum and amygdala. AM251 treatment impaired spatial learning and modified the pattern of the performed navigational strategies as well as the c-Fos immunoreactivity in the hippocampus, dorsal striatum and amygdala. The present findings shed light on the involvement of CB1 receptors as part of the selection system of the navigational strategies implemented to efficiently solve the spatial problem. View Full-Text
Keywords: endocannabinoid system; spatial learning; hippocampus; dorsal striatum; amygdala; Circular Hole Board; AM251; mice endocannabinoid system; spatial learning; hippocampus; dorsal striatum; amygdala; Circular Hole Board; AM251; mice
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MDPI and ACS Style

Laricchiuta, D.; Balsamo, F.; Fabrizio, C.; Panuccio, A.; Termine, A.; Petrosini, L. CB1 Activity Drives the Selection of Navigational Strategies: A Behavioral and c-Fos Immunoreactivity Study. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 1072. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21031072

AMA Style

Laricchiuta D, Balsamo F, Fabrizio C, Panuccio A, Termine A, Petrosini L. CB1 Activity Drives the Selection of Navigational Strategies: A Behavioral and c-Fos Immunoreactivity Study. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2020; 21(3):1072. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21031072

Chicago/Turabian Style

Laricchiuta, Daniela, Francesca Balsamo, Carlo Fabrizio, Anna Panuccio, Andrea Termine, and Laura Petrosini. 2020. "CB1 Activity Drives the Selection of Navigational Strategies: A Behavioral and c-Fos Immunoreactivity Study" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 21, no. 3: 1072. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21031072

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