The parafascicular nucleus and two-way active avoidance : effects of electrical stimulation and electrode implantation

To evaluate whether electrical stimulation of the parafascicular nucleus (PF) can improve short-term (24 h) and/or long-term (21 days) retention of two-way active avoidance, rats were implanted with an electrode at this nucleus (experimental groups) or above it (control groups). After a single 30-tr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental brain research 1999-12, Vol.129 (4), p.605-614
Main Authors: GUILLAZO-BLANCH, G, VALE-MARTINEZ, A. M, MARTI-NICOLOVIUS, M, COLL-ANDREU, M, MORGADO-BERNAL, I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis of Variance
Anatomical correlates of behavior
Animals
Avoidance Learning - physiology
Behavior, Animal - physiology
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Electric Stimulation
Electrodes, Implanted
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Intralaminar Thalamic Nuclei - physiology
Locomotion - physiology
Male
parafascicular nucleus
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Rats
Rats, Wistar
Retention (Psychology) - physiology
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Summary:To evaluate whether electrical stimulation of the parafascicular nucleus (PF) can improve short-term (24 h) and/or long-term (21 days) retention of two-way active avoidance, rats were implanted with an electrode at this nucleus (experimental groups) or above it (control groups). After a single 30-trial acquisition session, experimental groups were submitted to a 10-min session of electrical stimulation. Results showed that the simple implantation of an electrode at the posterior PF enhanced by itself the acquisition of two-way active avoidance, in such a way that the subsequent stimulation of this region may have been unable to further improve the performance of the rats. On the other hand, parafascicular stimulation improved the 24-h retention of the task in a site-specific way, since this effect was mainly seen after stimulation of the central PF region. The facilitative effect on 24-h retention could also depend on the level of performance achieved during the acquisition session, because this improvement was only evidenced in poorly learning animals. No effects were found on 21-day retention. The present results confirm the involvement of the PF in learning and memory and the functional heterogeneity of this nucleus.
ISSN:0014-4819
1432-1106
DOI:10.1007/s002210050930