title: Effects of thalamic lesions on repeated relearning of a spatial working memory task.
abstract: Anterior thalamic (ATN) dysfunction produces memory deficits in rats and humans. The current study shows that, with a substantial delay between post-surgery tests, controls show repeated relearning on a spatial working memory task whereas rats with neurotoxic ATN lesions showed repeated relearning deficits. Rats were pre-trained to criterion, but not over trained, on the spatial task. ATN lesions produced the expected spatial memory and relearning deficits about two weeks post-surgery and again either one or 15 weeks later. Control rats also showed forgetting post-surgery and after a 15 week break, relearning the task on each occasion. Controls with only a 1 week break before their final re-test showed negligible forgetting. Thus, a short break between re-tests replicated previous findings with ATN lesions, but a long break allows repeated comparison of rates of learning from a common starting point in sham and ATN-lesioned animals, providing a useful paradigm for future testing of pro-cognitive treatments.
authors: Department of Psychology and Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, POB56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Ulrich
authors: Department of Psychology and Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, POB56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
authors: P N
authors: PN
authors: Aitken
authors: Department of Psychology and Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, POB56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
authors: W C
authors: WC
authors: Abraham
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, POB4800, Ilam, Christchurch, New Zealand.
authors: J C
authors: JC
authors: Dalrymple-Alford
authors: Department of Psychology and Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, POB56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. Electronic address: nmcn@psy.otago.ac.nz.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: McNaughton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020643:Anterior Thalamic Nuclei / Q000293:injuries* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Animal model; Diencephalic amnesia; Learning; Thalamus