Retroactive interference (RI) is a type of amnesia in which a new learning experience can impair the expression of a previous one. It has been studied in several types of memories for over a century. Here, we aimed to study in the long-term memory (LTM) formation of an object-in-context task, defined as the recognition of a familiar object in a context different to that in which it was previously encountered. We trained rats with two sample trials, each taking place in a different context in association with different objects. Test sessions were performed 24 h later, to evaluate LTM for both object-context pairs using separate groups of trained rats. Furthermore, given the involvement of hippocampus (Hp) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in several recognition memories, we also analyzed the participation of these structures in the LTM formation of this task by the local infusion of muscimol. Our results show that object-in-context LTM formation is sensitive to RI by a different either familiar or novel object-context pair trial, experienced 1 h later. This interference occurs in a restricted temporal window and works on the LTM consolidation phase, leaving intact short-term memory expression. The second sample trial did not affect the object recognition part of the memory. Besides, muscimol treatment before the second sample trial blocks its object-in-context LTM and restores the first sample trial memory. We hypothesized that LTM-RI amnesia is probably caused by resources or cellular machinery competition in these brain regions when they are engaged in memory formation of the traces. In sum, when two different object-in-context memory traces are being processed, the second trace interferes with the consolidation of the first one requiring mPFC and CA1 dorsal Hp activation.

Highlights d A single olfactory conditioning trial induces long-term memories in honeybees d These memories differ in their dependency on translation and transcription d 4 h after conditioning, the memory depends only on translation processes d One and three days later, the memory depends both on translation and transcription

Stress is known to have a critical impact on memory processes. In the present work, we focus on the effects of an acute stress event closely associated to an unrelated learning task. Here, we show that acute stress (elevated platform [EP] session) experienced 1 hr after a weak spatial object recognition (SOR) training, which only induces a short‐term memory (STM), promoted the formation of SOR‐long term memory (SOR‐LTM) in rats. The effect induced by stress was dependent on the activation of glucocorticoid‐ and mineralocorticoid‐receptors, brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and protein synthesis in the dorsal hippocampus. In contrast, EP after a strong SOR impaired SOR‐LTM probably by interfering with the use of necessary resources. Moreover, we show that the EP session before training induced anterograde interference, which it was not reversed by a subsequent exposure to an open field. Our findings provide novel insights into the impact of stress on LTM formation in rodents and they are discussed under the behavioral analogue of the synaptic tagging and capture hypothesis.