title: Effects of Dietary n-3 Fatty Acid Deficiency on Morris Water-Maze Performance and Amphetamine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference in Rats.
abstract: In these studies we examined whether dietary n-3 fatty acid (FA) deficiency in adult male rats was associated with effects on performance in the Morris water-maze and with the development of a conditioned place preference to low (0.5 mg/kg) and high (2.0 mg/kg) doses of amphetamine. The male rats used in these studies had been raised for two generations on n-3 deficient diets, which produced an n-6: n-3 FA ratio in brain lipids three times that of animals fed an n-3 adequate diet. Although the two groups did not differ on learning the position of the hidden platform in the Morris water-maze, the n-3 deficient rats did show deficits on a subsequent working memory version of this task, and swam longer distances to reach a visible platform. There were no differences between the groups on the development of a conditioned place preference although, during the initial conditioning cycle, the increase in activity in response to the high dose of amphetamine was apparent only in the n-3 deficient group. These findings provide preliminary support for effects of n-3 FA deficiency on working memory, but not on motivational processes as measured by response to a drug reward.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Studies and Gerontology , University of Waterloo , Waterloo , Ontario , N2L 3G1 , Canada.
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Wainwright
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Studies and Gerontology , University of Waterloo , Waterloo , Ontario , N2L 3G1 , Canada.
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , University of Waterloo , Waterloo , Ontario , N2L 3G1 , Canada.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Girard
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychology , Wilfred Laurier University , Waterloo , Ontario , N2L 3G1 , Canada.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Studies and Gerontology , University of Waterloo , Waterloo , Ontario , N2L 3G1 , Canada.
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Ward
keywords: Amphetamine; Behavior; Brain fatty acid composition; Conditioned place-preference; Dietary essential fatty acids; Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); Rats; Water-maze; Working memory; n-3 fatty acids