Distinct roles of the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex in GABAA receptor blockade-induced enhancement of object recognition memory.
It is well known that the hippocampus plays a role in spatial and contextual memory, and that spatial information is tightly regulated by the hippocampus. However, it is still highly controversial whether the hippocampus plays a role in object recognition memory. In a pilot study, the administration of bicuculline, a GABAA receptor antagonist, enhanced memory in the passive avoidance task, but not in the novel object recognition task. In the present study, we hypothesized that these different results are related to the characteristics of each task and the different roles of hippocampus and perirhinal cortex. A region-specific drug-treatment model was employed to clarify the role of the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex in object recognition memory. After a single habituation in the novel object recognition task, intra-perirhinal cortical injection of bicuculline increased and intra-hippocampal injection decreased the exploration time ratio to novel object. In addition, when animals were repeatedly habituated to the context, intra-perirhinal cortical administration of bicuculline still increased exploration time ratio to novel object, but the effect of intra-hippocampal administration disappeared. Concurrent increases of c-Fos expression and ERK phosphorylation were observed in the perirhinal cortex of the object with context-exposed group either after single or repeated habituation to the context, but no changes were noted in the hippocampus. Altogether, these results suggest that object recognition memory formation requires the perirhinal cortex but not the hippocampus, and that hippocampal activation interferes with object recognition memory by the information encoding of unfamiliar environment.
Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
Jong Min
JM
Kim
Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
Dong Hyun
DH
Kim
Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
Younghwan
Y
Lee
Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
Se Jin
SJ
Park
Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Department of Oriental Pharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea; Kyung Hee East-West Pharmaceutical Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: jhryu63@khu.ac.kr.
Jong Hoon
JH
Ryu
D000818:Animals; D001640:Bicuculline / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D058787:GABA-A Receptor Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016762:Genes, fos; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009928:Organ Specificity; D020534:Parahippocampal Gyrus / Q000502:physiology*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000502:physiology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
D058787:GABA-A Receptor Antagonists; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; D001640:Bicuculline
Bicuculline; GABA(A) receptor; Hippocampus; Perirhinal cortex; Recognition memory