Dentate gyrus and spatial behaviour.
This article reviews evidence from studies employing colchicine-induced granule cell loss in the adult rat brain, and irradiation-induced hypoplasia of the neonatal dentate gyrus, on the performance of spatial and non-spatial behavioral tasks. The general picture emerging from this analysis reveals that the dentate gyrus granule cells are critically involved in spatial behavior, particularly when this requires the adoption of place strategies. This notion also provides an explanation for the behavioral effects of dentate gyrus granule cell loss seen in apparently non-spatial tasks.
Departamento de Fisiologia do Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. gfxavier@usp.br
Gilberto Fernando
GF
Xavier
Valéria Catelli Infantozzi
VC
Costa
D000818:Animals; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000502:physiology*