Opposing roles of prelimbic and infralimbic dopamine in conditioned cue and place preference.

Rationale: Increasing evidence points to the prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic (IL) cortices of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and their dopaminergic innervations subserving opposing roles in the regulation of instrumental behavior. However, it is at present unclear if they hold similar roles in the regulation of Pavlovian learning.

Objective: The present study investigated the role of the dopaminergic innervations of the PL and IL in the modulation of Pavlovian appetitive cue and place conditioning, previously shown to be dependent on the basolateral amygdala and hippocampus, respectively.

Calmodulin kinase IV-dependent CREB activation is required for neuroprotection via NMDA receptor-PSD95 disruption.

NMDA-type glutamate receptors mediate both trophic and excitotoxic signalling in CNS neurons. We have previously shown that blocking NMDAR- post-synaptic density-95 (PSD95) interactions provides significant protection from excitotoxicity and in vivo ischaemia; however, the mechanism of neuroprotection is unclear. Here, we report that blocking PSD-95 interactions with the Tat-NR2B9c peptide enhances a Ca²⁺-dependent protective pathway converging on cAMP Response Element binding protein (CREB) activation.