Serotonin involvement in aversive conditioning: reversal of the fear retention deficit by long-term p-chloroamphetamine but not p-chlorophenylalanine.
Neuroscience letters December 23, 1982 T Archer, S O Ogren, S B Ross 24 citations
Drugs that increase serotonin activity—5-MeO-DMT, fenfluramine, and PCA—impair rats' ability to retain fear, as shown by reduced immobility after inescapable shocks. Long-term PCA treatment, which depletes central serotonin neurons, completely blocked the retention impairment caused by acute PCA and fenfluramine, and partially blocked the deficit from 5-MeO-DMT. However, serotonin depletion via PCPA did not block these effects, suggesting different serotonin stores are involved. These findings underscore the role of the ascending serotonin pathway in aversive conditioning in rats.