Protein synthesis inhibition blocks consolidation of an acrobatic motor skill.
To investigate whether motor skill learning depends on de novo protein synthesis, adult rats were trained in an acrobatic locomotor task (accelerating rotarod) for 7 d. Animals were systemically injected with cycloheximide (CHX, 0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) 1 h before sessions 1 and 2 or sessions 2 and 3. Control rats received vehicle injections before sessions 1, 2, and 3. Although CHX did not affect improvement of performance within session 1, between-session improvement was impaired. In overtrained animals, comparable injections of CHX had no effect on rotarod performance. These findings suggest that consolidation of motor skills requires protein synthesis.
Department of General Neurology, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany. aluft@anatom.uni-tuebingen.de
Andreas R
AR
Luft
Manuel M
MM
Buitrago
Alain
A
Kaelin-Lang
Johannes
J
Dichgans
Jörg B
JB
Schulz
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D003513:Cycloheximide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007858:Learning / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D045442:Rotarod Performance Test
D011500:Protein Synthesis Inhibitors; D003513:Cycloheximide