Ethanol impairment of spontaneous alternation behaviour and associated changes in medial prefrontal glutamatergic gene expression precede putative markers of dependence
Abstract
Cognitive impairments are observable in over half of cases with alcoholism, deficits in spatial working memory being particularly common. Previously we observed that rats make more alternation errors in a Y-maze test of spontaneous alternation behaviour/spatial working memory after 5-day intermittent ethanol. Here we used qPCR to quantify changes in gene expression accompanying this behavioural impairment. Male Wistar rats were treated with either saline or ethanol (1 or 2.5g/kg) for 5days followed by 2 drug-free days. Brains were dissected after Y-maze analysis and RNA was extracted from the medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and nucleus accumbens. Using the Qiagen GABA & Glutamate PCR array we measured changes in these two neurotransmitter systems. A dose of 1g/kg ethanol did not affect spontaneous alternation behaviour or any other behavioural variable. 2.5g/kg significantly decreased % correct alternations (p=0.028) without affecting total distance (p=0.54) and increased time in the choice area (p=0.023) at the Y-maze centre, indicating a possible impairment in decision-making. In the medial prefrontal cortex, 2.5g/kg ethanol decreased mRNA expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, NMDA NR2A subunit, mGluR8 recept...Continue Reading
References
Frontal lobe function in Korsakoff and non-Korsakoff alcoholics: planning and spatial working memory
Citations
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Basal Ganglia
Basal Ganglia are a group of subcortical nuclei in the brain associated with control of voluntary motor movements, procedural and habit learning, emotion, and cognition. Here is the latest research.
Brain Injury & Trauma
brain injury after impact to the head is due to both immediate mechanical effects and delayed responses of neural tissues.
Barrel cortex
Here is the latest research on barrel cortex, a region of somatosensory and motor corticies in the brain, which are used by animals that rely on whiskers for world exploration.