Is the unilateral lesion of the left substantia nigra pars compacta sufficient to induce working memory impairment in rats?

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
Maria Ines BellissimoC Da Cunha

Abstract

Adult male Wistar rats with a substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) lesion induced by intranigral administration of 1 micromol 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) were used as a model of early phase Parkinson's disease (PD). This lesion caused a partial depletion of striatal dopamine (DA). The animals were submitted to a spatial working memory version of the water maze task in which they had to find a hidden (submersed) platform using online-maintained information that the platform remains in the same place during four consecutive trials, but that it is moved to another place every training day. Left, but not right SNc-lesioned rats were impaired in finding the platform in the second trial. This result suggests that the left SNc plays a key role in spatial working memory. Control experiments ruled out the possibility that motor impairment, sensory neglect, and/or impairment in the mental representation of the contralateral spatial environment had affected performance of the SNc-lesioned rats.

Citations

Mar 27, 2012·Behavioural Brain Research·Valéria S FernandesRegina H Silva
Jan 10, 2012·Behavioural Brain Research·Ming-Hong HsiehFu-Ying Wu
Jul 6, 2010·Behavioural Brain Research·Patricia Andreia DombrowskiClaudio Da Cunha
Nov 6, 2008·Behavioural Brain Research·Pramod KumarShyam S Sharma
Feb 17, 2015·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Claudio Da CunhaCharles D Blaha
Mar 11, 2008·Behavioural Brain Research·Claudio Da CunhaNewton Sabino Canteras
May 30, 2013·Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior·M D A TeixeiraG M Andrade
May 6, 2016·PloS One·Marc HerbinPierre-Paul Vidal
Dec 29, 2020·Brain Research Bulletin·Débora Dalla VecchiaRoberto Andreatini

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