N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in the nucleus accumbens are involved in detection of spatial novelty in mice
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the role played by intra-accumbens N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in spatial information encoding. For this purpose, the effect of local administration of both competitive (AP-5) and non-competitive (MK-801) NMDA antagonists was assessed in a task designed to estimate the ability of rodents to encode spatial relationships between discrete stimuli. The task consists of placing mice in an open field containing five objects and, after three sessions of habituation, examining their reactivity to object displacement (spatial novelty) and object substitution (object novelty). The results show that both doses of MK-801 (0.15 and 0.3 microg/side) induced a selective impairment in the capability of mice to detect spatial novelty. A similar effect was obtained by injecting the low dose of the competitive antagonist AP-5 (0.1 microg/side), whereas the high dose (0.15 microg/side) abolished detection of both spatial and object novelty. Taken together, these results show that intra-accumbens injections of low doses of competitive and non-competitive NMDA antagonists can produce selective deficits in processing spatial information resembling those observed after hippocampal damage. Moreover, th...Continue Reading
Citations
Blockade of cortical muscarinic but not NMDA receptors prevents a novel taste from becoming familiar
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.