title: Better than normal: improved formation of long-term spatial memory in healthy rats treated with levodopa.
abstract: Dopaminergic signaling modulates learning and memory. Consequently, treatment with the dopamine precursor levodopa ameliorates memory deficits in murine models of Alzheimer's disease. In healthy humans, administration of L-DOPA increases learning and memory. However, it is unknown whether dopamine-enhanced memory can also be modeled in normal animals. We here investigated if in healthy non-food-deprived rats low and high doses of levodopa (20 and 50 mg levodopa/kg bodyweight) increase spatial learning and long-term memory performance in a radial arm maze. After 4 months, rats treated with levodopa during training had significantly better memory of food rewarded arms than vehicle-treated animals. Interestingly, acute learning curves did not differ between levodopa and vehicle animals. This suggests that enhanced dopaminergic signaling may have predominantly acted on the cortical long-term consolidation of newly acquired spatial information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Strasse 33, 48129, Münster, Germany. reinhj@uni-muenster.de
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reinholz
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Skopp
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Breitenstein
authors.forename: Hilke
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Winterhoff
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knecht
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D007980:Levodopa / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects*; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D007980:Levodopa