title: Simple and choice reaction-time performance following occlusion of the anterior cerebral arteries in the rat.
abstract: Focal cerebral ischemia in the rat has traditionally been studied by examining the consequences of middle-cerebral artery occlusion. However, the anteriorcerebral arteries of the rat may now also be bilaterally occluded by stereotaxic injection of the vasoconstrictor endothelin-1, resulting in ischemic damage to medial prefrontal cortex and the anteromedial basal forebrain. The behavioural consequences of anterior-cerebral artery occlusion (ACAo) were studied in two experiments using simple and choice reaction-time tasks designed to dissociate response impairments from dysfunction of motivation and attention, respectively. Following ACAo, reaction-time increased post-surgery in the choice, but not simple reaction-time task. There was also an increase in incorrect choices in the choice reaction-time task. However, the impairments were independent of motivational or attentional function, which remained intact. Although the ACAo-induced ischemic damage did not disrupt motivation or attention, the results suggest that the lesion results in an executive impairment in selecting and initiating responses.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sharkey
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Marston
authors.forename: V J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D002546:Ischemic Attack, Transient / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011930:Reaction Time; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012201:Reward