Dizocilpine (MK-801) impairs learning in the active place avoidance task but has no effect on the performance during task/context alternation
Language English Country Netherlands Media print-electronic
Document type Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PubMed
26970577
DOI
10.1016/j.bbr.2016.03.020
PII: S0166-4328(16)30145-0
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- Keywords
- Active place avoidance, Context alternation, Dizocilpine, Morris water maze, Schizophrenia, Task alternation,
- MeSH
- Analysis of Variance MeSH
- Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists toxicity MeSH
- Maze Learning drug effects MeSH
- Dizocilpine Maleate toxicity MeSH
- Rats MeSH
- Locomotion drug effects MeSH
- Disease Models, Animal MeSH
- Learning Disabilities chemically induced physiopathology MeSH
- Rats, Long-Evans MeSH
- Reaction Time drug effects MeSH
- Avoidance Learning drug effects MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Rats MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
- Names of Substances
- Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists MeSH
- Dizocilpine Maleate MeSH
The prevention of engram interference, pattern separation, flexibility, cognitive coordination and spatial navigation are usually studied separately at the behavioral level. Impairment in executive functions is often observed in patients suffering from schizophrenia. We have designed a protocol for assessing these functions all together as behavioral separation. This protocol is based on alternated or sequential training in two tasks testing different hippocampal functions (the Morris water maze and active place avoidance), and alternated or sequential training in two similar environments of the active place avoidance task. In Experiment 1, we tested, in adult rats, whether the performance in two different spatial tasks was affected by their order in sequential learning, or by their day-to-day alternation. In Experiment 2, rats learned to solve the active place avoidance task in two environments either alternately or sequentially. We found that rats are able to acquire both tasks and to discriminate both similar contexts without obvious problems regardless of the order or the alternation. We used two groups of rats, controls and a rat model of psychosis induced by a subchronic intraperitoneal application of 0.08mg/kg of dizocilpine (MK-801), a non-competitive antagonist of NMDA receptors. Dizocilpine had no selective effect on parallel/sequential learning of tasks/contexts. However, it caused hyperlocomotion and a significant deficit in learning in the active place avoidance task regardless of the task alternation. Cognitive coordination tested by this task is probably more sensitive to dizocilpine than spatial orientation because no hyperactivity or learning impairment was observed in the Morris water maze.
Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences Videnska 1083 14220 Prague 4 Czech Republic
References provided by Crossref.org
