Spontaneous individual differences in cognitive performances of young adult rats predict locomotor response to amphetamine.
Inter-individual differences in cognitive capacities of young adult rats have largely been ignored. To explore this variability and its neurobiological bases, the relationships between individual differences in working memory and locomotor responses to novelty and to amphetamine were investigated in SD rats. Groups of good and poor learners were isolated, the latter demonstrating a markedly slower learning of the task compared to performant rats, with more perseverations independently to motivational state. They also presented a much higher increase in amphetamine-induced locomotion that remained significant for more than 1h after the injection. These results provide evidence that variability in cognitive capacities can be used to reveal their neurobiological substrates. They open new perspectives to study a possible cognitive origin of addictive behaviors and to investigate the involvement of these inter-individual differences on those observed later in life.
Dellu-Hagedorn
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Laboratoire de Neuropsychobiologie des Désadaptations, CNRS UMR 5541, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, BP. 31, 146 rue Léo Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux cedex, France. francoise.dellu@lnpb.u-bordeaux2.fr
D000367:Age Factors; D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D015259:Dopamine Agents; D000661:Amphetamine