Complementary tasks to measure working memory in distinct prefrontal cortex subregions in rats.
Acquisition of odor-guided or visually-guided delayed win-shift behavior was evaluated in rats after lidocaine-induced inactivation within the agranular insular area of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) or the prelimbic area of the PFC. Additional sites and tasks were used to control for neuroanatomical and behavioral specificity of lidocaine inactivation of the agranular insular and prelimbic areas. Results showed that acquisition of the odor-guided delayed win-shift task was dependent on the agranular insular area, whereas acquisition of the visually-guided version was dependent on the prelimbic area. This dissociation suggests that the stimulus modality used is critical for revealing working memory functions of different PFC subregions. The described methods provide a complementary means to study working memory in PFC subregions using a radial-arm maze.
Di Pietro
Nina C
NC
Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Black
Yolanda D
YD
Green-Jordan
Kristen
K
Eichenbaum
Howard B
HB
Kantak
Kathleen M
KM
D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D008012:Lidocaine