Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science, 2014, 4, 579-589 Published Online December 2014 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/jbbs http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jbbs.2014.412055 How to cite this paper: Canova, F., Faria, R.S. and Ferrari, E.A.M. (2014) Effects of Post-Training Blockade of GABA B Recep- tor on Memory of Food Location and Expression of Synapsin I in the Hippocampus of Pigeons (Columba livia). Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science, 4, 579-589. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jbbs.2014.412055 Effects of Post-Training Blockade of GABA B Receptor on Memory of Food Location and Expression of Synapsin I in the Hippocampus of Pigeons (Columba livia) Fernando Canova * , Rodolfo Souza Faria, Elenice Aparecida de Moraes Ferrari Laboratory of Neural Systems and Behavior, Department of Structural and Functional Biology, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas—UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil Email: * fernando.canova@gmail.com Received 7 October 2014; revised 22 November 2014; accepted 9 December 2014 Copyright © 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract This study investigated effects of post-training treatment with phaclofen, GABAB receptor anta- gonist, on the memory of food location and on the expression of Synapsin I in the hippocampus of pigeons. Pigeons were trained in food location (7 sessions) and underwent post-training treat- ment with phaclofen (0.3 mg/kg, i.p.; PHAC), saline (SAL) or non-treated (NTR). Testing for mem- ory persistence occurred 7 days after the last training session (PHACR, SALR and NTRR Groups). Pigeons treated with phaclofen had lower latency and higher correct choice values than saline and non-treated controls (p < 0.05). Analysis of hippocampus tissue indicated that Synapsin I-positive cell counts were higher in pigeons treated with phaclofen than in saline and non-treated controls (p < 0.05). Data indicated enhancement of consolidation and persistence of food location memory, and up-regulation of Synapsin I expression in the hippocampus of pigeons, which were related with post-training blockade of GABAB receptors. Keywords Spatial Memory, Hippocampus, Synapsin I, GABAB Receptor, Pigeon 1. Introduction Spatial memory involves brain functions responsible for recognizing, codifying, storing and recovering informa- * Corresponding author.