title: Delayed-alternation performance after kainic acid lesions of the thalamic mediodorsal nucleus and the ventral tegmental area in the rat.
abstract: The relative importance of two subcortical structures, projecting to the rat's prefrontal cortex, in mediation of delayed-alternation performance, was tested. These structures, the thalamic mediodorsal nucleus and the ventral tegmental area, were lesioned with kainic acid after the rats had learned a spatial delayed-alternation task. It was found that both structures are apparently involved to a similar degree in the performance of this task and that the behavior of both experimental groups differed from that of a sham-operated control group of rats.
mesh_terms: D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation / Q000187:drug effects; D011759:Pyrrolidines / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats; D013028:Space Perception / Q000187:drug effects*; D013681:Tegmentum Mesencephali / Q000187:drug effects*; D013787:Thalamic Nuclei / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D011759:Pyrrolidines; D007608:Kainic Acid