Dizocilpine (MK-801) impairs learning in the active place avoidance task but has no effect on the performance during task/context alternation

0458400 - FGÚ 2017 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Vojtěchová, Iveta - Petrásek, Tomáš - Hatalová, Hana - Pištíková, Adéla - Valeš, Karel - Stuchlík, Aleš
Dizocilpine (MK-801) impairs learning in the active place avoidance task but has no effect on the performance during task/context alternation.
Behavioural Brain Research. Roč. 305, May 15 (2016), s. 247-257. ISSN 0166-4328. E-ISSN 1872-7549
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-03627S
Grant - others:Rada Programu interní podpory projektů mezinárodní spolupráce AV ČR(CZ) M200111204
Institutional support: RVO:67985823
Keywords : task alternation * context alternation * active place avoidance * Morris water maze * Dizocilpine * schizophrenia
Subject RIV: FH - Neurology
Impact factor: 3.002, year: 2016

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. 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 0.08 mg/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.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0258665