Basal Forebrain Lesions and Memory: Alterations in Neurotensin, not Acetylcholine, May Cause Amnesia

Behavioral impairments produced by lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) are usually attributed to the loss of cholinergic cells. A comparison between the effects of 2 different neurotoxins, ibotenic (IBO) and quisqualic (QUIS) acid, reveals that this interpretation is inconsistent wi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral neuroscience 1989-08, Vol.103 (4), p.765-769
Main Authors: Wenk, Gary L, Markowska, Alicja L, Olton, David S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetylcholine - physiology
Animal
Animal behavior
Animals
Basal Ganglia - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain Mapping
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Choice Behavior
Choline O-Acetyltransferase - physiology
Conditioning
Convulsants - pharmacology
Discrimination Learning - physiology
Drugs
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Geniculate Bodies (Thalamus)
Ibotenic Acid - pharmacology
Learning. Memory
Male
Memory
Memory - physiology
Mental Recall - physiology
Neural Pathways - physiology
Neurotensin - physiology
Neurotoxins
Orientation - physiology
Oxadiazoles - pharmacology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Quisqualic Acid
Rats
Rats, Inbred Strains
Receptors, Cholinergic - physiology
Substantia Innominata - drug effects
Substantia Innominata - physiology
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Behavioral impairments produced by lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) are usually attributed to the loss of cholinergic cells. A comparison between the effects of 2 different neurotoxins, ibotenic (IBO) and quisqualic (QUIS) acid, reveals that this interpretation is inconsistent with the data. Rats were given injections of either IBO or QUIS into the NBM and tested on an alternation task in a T-maze. At the start of behavioral testing, both IBO and QUIS rats had impaired choice accuracy. At the end of behavioral testing, however, IBO rats, but not QUIS rats, were more impaired than controls, and IBO rats were more impaired than QUIS rats. IBO decreased choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity and [ 3 H]neurotensin binding in the neocortex. QUIS decreased ChAT activity but did not change [ 3 H]neurotensin binding. The cholinergic system may not be the critical component responsible for behavioral impairments following NBM lesions.
ISSN:0735-7044
1939-0084
DOI:10.1037/0735-7044.103.4.765