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[birthdaysuit]

Examined the efficacy of dietary curcumin at impairing the consolidation and reconsolidation of a Pavlovian fear memory, a widely studied animal model of traumatic memory formation in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

RESULTS: A diet enriched with 1.5% curcumin prevents the training-related elevation in the expression of the immediate early genes (IEGs) Arc/Arg3.1 and Egr-1 in the lateral amygdala (LA) and impairs the 'consolidation' of an auditory Pavlovian fear memory; short-term memory (STM) is intact, whereas long-term memory (LTM) is significantly impaired.

Dietary curcumin also impairs the 'reconsolidation' of a recently formed auditory Pavlovian fear memory; fear memory retrieval (reactivation) and postreactivation (PR)-STM are intact, whereas PR-LTM is significantly impaired. Additional experiments revealed that dietary curcumin is also effective at impairing the reconsolidation of an older, well-consolidated fear memory.

Fear memories that fail to reconsolidate under the influence of dietary curcumin are impaired in an enduring manner; unlike extinguished fear memories, they are not subject to reinstatement or renewal.

http://www.nature.co...pp2014315a.html

[birthdaysuit]

Curcumin reduces the neurotoxicity of quinolinic acid, via anti-oxidant and possibly calcium influx mechanisms. Quinolinic acid agonizes NMDA receptors leading to hyperexcitability, and thus excitotoxic damage produced from elevated levels of quinolinic caused by unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS). Hence, this can lead to the metabolism of quinolinic acid in the amygdala and striatum and a reduction in quinolinic acid pathway in the cingulate cortex.