Establishing a Contextual Fear Conditioning Paradigm for the Tat Transgenic Mouse Model

HIV-1 Tat is a viral protein produced by HIV that causes structural changes to neurons and inflammation. Tat is implicated in deficits in the functions of several brain areas including hippocampal-dependent memory. Contextual fear condition (CFC) can be used to observe memory by associating a fear-inducing stimulus with a certain place. Studies show that lesioning the hippocampus reduces contextual fear related behaviors, supporting the use of CFC as a measure of hippocampal function. In the current study, three experiments were run to determine the most effective conditioning procedure for the Tat transgenic mouse, a neuroHIV model. A 2x2, 0.4 mA arrangement was found to produce the least variability between subjects. However, the multiple-trial conditioning in this procedure may provide extensive learning, essentially rescuing neurologically compromised subjects. This further raises concerns about the validity of comparisons between the effectiveness of contextual versus cued fear conditioning. Future studies should assess hippocampal neurodegeneration associated with predicted behavioral deficits through quantification of structural proteins, such as MAP2ab, IBA-1, and GFAP.Bachelor of Scienc