title: Measuring attention in a Parkinson's disease rat model using the 5-arm maze test.
abstract: Twenty to thirty percent of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) suffer from not only motor disorder, but also symptoms of dementia, named Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). Cognitive deficits in PDD include memory, recognition, and attention. Although patients with PDD show fluctuation of internal attention when taking an attentional test, they perform better when provided with an external cue, indicating that they have normal external attention. We examined visuospatial attention in a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced PD animal model using the 5-arm maze test. After an 8-day training period, followed by a 2-day pre-lesion test in the 5-arm maze, male Wistar rats received a microinfusion of MPTP into the substantia nigra pars compacta, while controls underwent a sham operation procedure. Nine days after MPTP lesioning, the rats underwent an open field test, followed by a 2-day post-lesion test in the maze. The results showed that: (1) no motor impairment was observed 9 days after MPTP lesioning; and (2) in the post-lesion 5-arm maze test, cue illumination lasting 0.5s resulted in a decrease in the percentage of correct responses compared to a 2 second cue in both the sham-operated and MPTP-lesioned groups and no difference was observed between these two groups. As far as we are aware, this is the first study examining visuospatial attention in the PD rat model using the 5-arm maze test. These results suggest that, as in patients with PDD, MPTP-induced PD rats show normal external attention function.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Shih-Chun
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Tungs' Taichung Metrohabor Hospital, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Chih-Chuan
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Ching-Han
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Wen-Nung
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biological Psychiatry, State Research Institute of Physiology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tikhonova
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Ming-Chou
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Department of Education and Research, Taipei City Hospital, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Ching-Sui
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biological Psychiatry, State Research Institute of Physiology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia. Electronic address: amst@bionet.nsc.ru.
authors.forename: Tamara G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Amstislavskaya
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Chung Shan Medical University, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: yjho@csmu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Ying-Jui
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D015632:1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D003463:Cues; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning; D009043:Motor Activity; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D020734:Parkinsonian Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D065842:Pars Compacta / Q000503:physiopathology; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013028:Space Perception; D014796:Visual Perception
chemical_list: D015632:1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine
keywords: 5-arm maze test; Attention; Dementia; MPTP; Parkinson's disease