title: Impairment of cingulothalamic learning-related neuronal coding in rabbits exposed to cocaine in utero: general and sex-specific effects.
abstract: Neuronal activity was recorded in the cingulate cortex and the limbic thalamus in Dutch-belted rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) exposed to cocaine (8 mg/kg/day i.v.) or saline in utero during acquisition and reversal learning of a discriminative avoidance response. Anterior cingulate cortical excitatory training-induced activity (TIA) was attenuated in cocaine-exposed female rabbits during acquisition and reversal learning, but only during reversal learning in male rabbits. Posterior cingulate cortical excitatory TIA was lessened in cocaine-exposed rabbits during acquisition, whereas discrimination between the positive and negative cues was enhanced. Neuronal firing was attenuated in the anterior ventral thalamus in cocaine-exposed rabbits during acquisition and reversal learning. Behavioral learning was normal in cocaine-exposed rabbits. Other data suggest that rabbits exposed to cocaine in utero exhibit a learning deficit when trained with nonsalient cues.
authors: Department of Psychology and the Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana 61801, USA.
authors: C L
authors: CL
authors: Taylor
authors: J H
authors: JH
authors: Freeman
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Holt
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Gabriel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003042:Cocaine / Q000633:toxicity*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011817:Rabbits; D012193:Reversal Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D012733:Sex Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects; D013788:Thalamus / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine