title: [Effect of early scream sound stress on learning and memory in female rats].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of early scream sound stress on the ability of spatial learning and memory, the levels of norepinephrine (NE) and corticosterone (CORT) in serum, and the morphology of adrenal gland.
  
  
  METHODS
  Female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were treated daily with scream sound from postnatal day 1(P1) for 21 d. Morris water maze was used to measure the spatial learning and memory ability. The levels of serum NE and CORT were determined by radioimmunoassay. Adrenal gland of SD rats was collected and fixed in formalin, and then embedded with paraffin. The morphology of adrenal gland was observed by HE staining.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Exposure to early scream sound decreased latency of escape and increased times to cross the platform in Morris water maze test (P<0.05). The levels of serum NE was significantly elevated, with an obvious tendency in the increase of CORT level (P<0.05). The morphology of adrenal gland was also influenced.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Newborn female rats subjected to scream sound stress can enhance spatial learning and memory ability in adulthood, which is related to activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Basic Medical College, Shanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taiyuan 030024, China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Basic Medical College, Shanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taiyuan 030024, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases of Ministry of Education, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an 710061, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoge
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Basic Medical College, Shanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taiyuan 030024, China.
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Basic Medical College, Shanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taiyuan 030024, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases of Ministry of Education, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an 710061, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000818:Animals; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D018782:Maze Learning; D008568:Memory; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000097:blood; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D014828:Vocalization, Animal
chemical_list: D003345:Corticosterone; D009638:Norepinephrine