title: Cognitive deficits in docosahexaenoic acid-deficient rats.
abstract: This study investigated the influence of brain docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) deficiency on simple and complex olfactory-based learning and memory in 2nd generation (F2) adult male rats. Rats raised and maintained on either an n-3-adequate or an n-3-deficient diet were tested for acquisition of an olfactory learning set and an olfactory memory task, and for motivation to obtain a water reward. Despite a 76% decrease in brain DHA, n-3-deficient rats were able to acquire most simple 2-odor discrimination tasks but were deficient in the acquisition of a 20-problem olfactory learning set. This deficit could not be attributed to changes in sensory capacity but, instead, appeared to represent a deficit in higher order learning.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, Maryland 20852, USA.
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Catalan
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moriguchi
authors.forename: Burton
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Slotnick
authors.forename: Mahadev
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murthy
authors.forename: Rebecca S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Greiner
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Salem
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003677:Deficiency Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012903:Smell
chemical_list: D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids