title: Active and passive avoidance learning in rats neonatally treated with intraventricular 6-hydroxydopamine.
abstract: To clarify the behavioral characteristics of rats neonatally treated with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), their performance on 4 aversive learning tasks, 3 active (shuttle, one-way, and rearing) avoidance tasks and one passive (step-through) avoidance task, was examined. On days 2 and 4 after birth, each rat of F344/Du strain received bilateral intraventricular injections of 6-OHDA (35 micrograms x 2) or vehicle solution following desmethylimipramine (20 mg/kg, s.c.) pretreatment. From day 90, each rat was trained in one of the 4 avoidance tasks. 6-OHDA-treated rats showed significantly less avoidance responses in the shuttle and the one-way avoidance tasks, but their performance on the rearing and the step-through passive avoidance tasks was not significantly different from that of control rats. The differential impairment of avoidance suggests that 6-OHDA treatment does not cause a general learning deficit, but facilitates rearing and/or jumping responses in aversive situations, which results in inappropriate escape responses.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, University of Tsukuba, Japan. takasuna@human.tsukuba.ac.jp
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takasuna
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines / Q000378:metabolism; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004597:Electroshock; D005260:Female; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D008297:Male; D016627:Oxidopamine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013563:Sympathectomy, Chemical
chemical_list: D015306:Biogenic Monoamines; D016627:Oxidopamine