Sensorimotor cortical lesion effects and treatment with nimodipine.
Rats with unilateral ablations of the sensorimotor cortex and others with control operations were tested for their ability to touch and remove adhesive tape applied to both forelimbs. Half of each group was administered a calcium channel antagonist (nimodipine) for two weeks following the lesions and the other half received vehicle. The rats with lesions showed a bias to remove the ipsilateral stimulus first and exhibited contralateral deficits relative to control animals. Nimodipine was shown to reduce the contralateral stimulus removal time when the animals began testing two weeks after surgery, but not when testing began 1 day after surgery and overlapped the period of drug administration. Lesion effects also appeared on tests for neurologic impairment and activity, but nimodipine did not reduce these deficits. These findings indicate that nimodipine has the potential to reduce some deficits after sensorimotor cortical lesions, but that the effects of this drug may be task specific.
Department of Psychology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130.
A B
AB
Andersen
S
S
Finger
C S
CS
Andersen
N
N
Hoagland
D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000187:drug effects; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000187:drug effects*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000187:drug effects; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D009553:Nimodipine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000187:drug effects; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000187:drug effects*; D014110:Touch / Q000187:drug effects
D009553:Nimodipine; D002118:Calcium