Loss of cholinergic neurons in the rat neocortex produces deficits in passive avoidance learning.
Bilateral kainic acid lesions of the ventral globus pallidus produced a significant and selective cortical decrease in choline acetyltransferase activity in the rat brain. When lesioned and control subjects were compared on performance of a step-through passive avoidance task, lesioned rats showed a marked retention deficit 24 hr after the initial training trial. This experimentally-induced memory deficit associated with a cortical cholinergic neuronal loss resembles the deficits in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type and may provide a useful animal model for studying the disease.
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000502:physiology*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase; D000109:Acetylcholine; D007608:Kainic Acid