Impairment of the serotonergic neurons underlying reinforcement elicits extinction of the repeatedly reactivated context memory

We analyzed changes in the activity of individually identifiable neurons involved in the networks underlying feeding and withdrawal behaviors in snails before, during, and after aversive learning in vitro. Responses to food in the “reinforcing” serotonergic neurons involved in withdrawal changed significantly after training, implying that these serotonergic cells participate in the reactivation of memory and are involved in the reconsolidation process. In behavioral experiments it was shown that impairment of the functioning of the serotonergic system with the selective neurotoxin 5,7-DiHT did not change the memory, when tested once, but resulted in a complete extinction of the contextual memory after repeated reactivation of memory. Conversely, the cued memory to a specific type of food was significantly reduced but still present. Thus, we conclude that it is only for the context memory, that participation of the “reinforcing” serotonergic neurons in memory retrieval may be the gate condition for the choice between extinction/reconsolidation.