Spatial learning in the holeboard impairs an early phase of long-term potentiation in the rat hippocampal CA1-region

Darya Makhracheva-Stepochkina, Sabine Frey, Julietta U. Frey, Volker Korz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD) are considered as cellular models for learning and memory. We studied the impact of holeboard training on LTP in the rat CA1 hippocampal region. In 7-week-old Wistar rats a recording electrode was chronically implanted into the hippocampal pyramidal cell layer of the CA1 of the right hemisphere and a stimulation electrode into the contralateral CA3 region. Two groups of animals received a spatial holeboard training of 10 or 15 trials over 2 days on a fixed pattern of baited holes. The last trial was performed 15 min after a primed burst stimulation of the contralateral CA3, which resulted in LTP in the ipsilateral CA1. A pseudo-trained group that received a 10 trial training with changing patterns of baited holes after each trial and a group that remained in the recording chambers during the experiments served as controls. Experimental rats significantly improved their spatial performance with increasing numbers of trials, indicated by decreasing times to pick up all food pellets and by decreasing numbers of reference memory errors. A learning-related impairment of CA1-LTP measured in both the population-spike amplitude as well as the fEPSP could be noted. These results show that specific (pattern-training), but not unspecific (pseudo-training) spatial information processing prior to electrical stimulation can severely affect LTP in hippocampal area CA1.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)545-551
Number of pages7
JournalNeurobiology of Learning and Memory
Volume89
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • CA1
  • Hippocampus
  • Holeboard
  • LTD
  • LTP
  • Spatial learning

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

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