title: Ontogeny of sensorimotor gating and short-term memory processing throughout the adolescent period in rats.
abstract: Adolescence and puberty are highly susceptible developmental periods during which the neuronal organization and maturation of the brain is completed. The endocannabinoid (eCB) system, which is well known to modulate cognitive processing, undergoes profound and transient developmental changes during adolescence. With the present study we were aiming to examine the ontogeny of cognitive skills throughout adolescence in male rats and clarify the potential modulatory role of CB1 receptor signalling. Cognitive skills were assessed repeatedly every 10th day in rats throughout adolescence. All animals were tested for object recognition memory and prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex. Although cognitive performance in short-term memory as well as sensorimotor gating abilities were decreased during puberty compared to adulthood, both tasks were found to show different developmental trajectories throughout adolescence. A low dose of the CB1 receptor antagonist/inverse agonist SR141716 was found to improve recognition memory specifically in pubertal animals while not affecting behavioral performance at other ages tested. The present findings demonstrate that the developmental trajectory of cognitive abilities does not occur linearly for all cognitive processes and is strongly influenced by pubertal maturation. Developmental alterations within the eCB system at puberty onset may be involved in these changes in cognitive processing.
authors.affiliation: Research Group Developmental Neuropsychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Goepfrich
authors.affiliation: Research Group Developmental Neuropsychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Chris M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Friemel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pauen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: miriam.schneider@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D055139:Sensory Gating / Q000502:physiology*; D012741:Sexual Maturation / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Adolescence; CB1 receptor; Cognition; Ontogeny; Puberty; Rat