[Behavioral impairments in Morris water maze in rats selectively bred for audiogenic seizure susceptibility (Krushinsky-Molodkina strain)].
Krushinsky-Molodkina rats (KM strain) with genetically determined seizure susceptibility (clonic and tonic seizures in response to the sound of an electric bell, Krushinsky, 1960) were tested in two versions of Morris water maze and compared with normal albino rats (Sprague-Dawley and Wistar). The tests revealed a learning deficit in KM rats. They showed slow acquisition in both the spatial version of the test and the version with the platform, less efficient strategy of searching for target platform, and high scores of floating and thigmotaxis. However, males of KM rats (not females) did not differ significantly from Wistar strain in the probe trial in the spatial variant of the Morris test. No preference for searching for the platform at the place of its previous localization was observed in KM females. Together with our previous findings of the low scores in Revecz-Krushinsky test and data of other authors (Batuev et al., 1983) concerning a working memory deficit in the radial maze, the results suggest the of complex cognitive deficit combined with possible increased stress reactivity in KM rats.
Pleskacheva
M G
MG
Lomonosov State University, Moscow, Russia.
Zorina
Z A
ZA
Nikolenko
D L
DL
Wolfer
D P
DP
Kostyna
Z A
ZA
Lipp
H P
HP
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012640:Seizures / Q000235:genetics*