Active and passive avoidance learning in rats neonatally treated with intraventricular 6-hydroxydopamine

To clarify the behavioral characteristics of rats neonatally treated with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), their performance on 4 aversive learning tasks, 3 active (shuttle, one-way, and rearing) avoidance tasks and one passive (step-through) avoidance task, was examined. On days 2 and 4 after birth, eac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioural brain research 1996, Vol.74 (1), p.119-126
Main Authors: Takasuna, Miki, Iwasaki, Tsuneo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
6-Hydroxydopamine
Animals
Animals, Newborn - physiology
Avoidance learning
Avoidance Learning - drug effects
Avoidance Learning - physiology
Behavioral observation
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biogenic Monoamines - metabolism
Biological and medical sciences
Brain Chemistry - drug effects
Brain Chemistry - physiology
Electroshock
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Injections, Intraventricular
Male
Neonatal treatment
Neurotransmission and behavior
Oxidopamine - administration & dosage
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Rat
Rats
Rats, Inbred F344
Rearing response
Sensory Thresholds
Sex Characteristics
Sympathectomy, Chemical
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Summary:To clarify the behavioral characteristics of rats neonatally treated with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), their performance on 4 aversive learning tasks, 3 active (shuttle, one-way, and rearing) avoidance tasks and one passive (step-through) avoidance task, was examined. On days 2 and 4 after birth, each rat of F344/Du strain received bilateral intraventricular injections of 6-OHDA (35 μg × 2) or vehicle solution following desmethylimipramine (20 mg/kg, s.c.) pretreatment. From day 90, each rat was trained in one of the 4 avoidance tasks. 6-OHDA-treated rats showed significantly less avoidance responses in the shuttle and the one-way avoidance tasks, but their performance on the rearing and the step-through passive avoidance tasks was not significantly different from that of control rats. The differential impairment of avoidance suggests that 6-OHDA treatment does not cause a general learning deficit, but facilitates rearing and/or jumping responses in aversive situations, which results in inappropriate escape responses.
ISSN:0166-4328
1872-7549
DOI:10.1016/0166-4328(95)00148-4