Memory dissociation: the approach to the study of retrieval processes.
The phenomenon of dissociated memory retrieval is observed when some influences (for example, pharmacological) on the brain result in specific changes of long-term memory. The purpose of present paper is to reveal possibilities of the phenomenon for study of long-term memory retrieval. Pharmacologically-induced dissociated states could be identified when the retrieval of responses learned before treatment is temporarily blocked by the drug influence, but the ability of the animals to learn new tasks is intact. Furthermore, memory traces that were formed in drugged state are not accessible for the retrieval in normal state and only the same drug treatment allows retrieving them. In the present work, dissociated learning of food-motivated tasks was carried out in Wistar rats with cholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine (0.5 mg/kg, intraperitonealy) or general anaesthetic sodium pentobarbital (15 mg/kg, intraperitonealy.). The retrieval of dissociated responses was studied under the influence of various doses of the same drugs. The results revealed the asymmetry of memory dissociation with physostigmine in contrast to pentobarbital-induced memory dissociation. Gradual access for the retrieval of dissociated memory traces after pharmacological modulation of cholinergic and GABA-ergic brain systems was shown. It was suggested an important role of hippocampus in memory dissociation, as a structure-performing match-mismatch operations between different retrieved memory traces.
Arkhipov
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Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics, Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia. arkhipov@arkhipov.iteb.serpukhov.su
D000647:Amnesia / Q000139:chemically induced; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005502:Food; D018757:GABA Modulators / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009042:Motivation; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000494:pharmacology; D010830:Physostigmine / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D018757:GABA Modulators; D010830:Physostigmine; D010424:Pentobarbital