title: Long-term effects of neonatal MK-801 treatment on spatial learning and cortical plasticity in adult rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The long-term effects of neonatal treatment with MK-801 on spatial learning and cortical plasticity were investigated in adult rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rat pups were injected twice daily with MK-801 (0.1 mg/kg) on postnatal days 7-19, participated in water maze testing between postnatal days 90 and 102, and were then studied electrophysiologically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Treatment with MK-801 in such a low dose resulted in a very slight impairment of performance in the water maze task, but not in the visual cue response. Besides the slight learning impairment, the electrophysiological study revealed a reduction in the capacity for plasticity in the primary motor cortex of the treated animals, which was pronounced in the controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study demonstrates that even a slight impairment in learning and memory function may be accompanied by a cortical plasticity deficiency that is detectable electrophysiologically.
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Physiology, University of Szeged, POB 533, 6701 Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Hajnalka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Németh
authors.forename: Hedvig
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Varga
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Farkas
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kis
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vécsei
authors.forename: Szatmár
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horváth
authors.forename: Krisztina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Boda
authors.forename: Joachim R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: József
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Toldi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects*; D003463:Cues; D003714:Denervation; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects*; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate