Gonadal hormones such as estrogen modulate memory formation in a number of experimental paradigms including fear extinction memory. This protocol describes a set of methods for investigating the influence of gonadal hormones specifically during extinction in naturally cycling females, including estrous cycle monitoring and exogenous estrogen administration.
Maeng, L. Y., Cover, K. K., Landau, A. J., Milad, M. R., Lebron-Milad, K. Protocol for Studying Extinction of Conditioned Fear in Naturally Cycling Female Rats. J. Vis. Exp. (96), e52202, doi:10.3791/52202 (2015).