Learning and retrieval are impaired after lesions of the ventral part of rat's nucleus reticularis pontis oralis.
Adult male hooded rats of the Long-Evans strain were investigated before and after lesions of the ventral nucleus reticularis pontis oralis (vRPO) in an open field test (OF) and in a Y-maze. The OF and the neurological findings were scarcely changed. Startle responses were strongly reduced and also horizontal head and body turning in the OF were significantly reduced. The retention of Y-maze avoidance tasks was reduced and relearning of the tasks relatively slow. Brightness discrimination remained unaffected by the lesion. The postoperative active avoidance learning of a new task in the jump test box was impossible. Postoperative learning of a thirst-motivated labyrinth task was significantly retarded compared with unoperated control rats. The vRPO lesion syndrome is quite different compared with 1 mm more dorsal (dRPO) and 1 mm more posterior (vRPC, dRPC) placed lesions and underlines the hypothesis of the functional heterogeneity of the pontine reticular formation.
Müller
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G
Paul Flechsig Institute for Brain Research, Department of Neurophysiology, Karl Marx University, Leipzig, GDR.
Klingberg
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F
D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012154:Reticular Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis