Unilateral hippocampal blockade reveals that one hippocampus is sufficient for learning a passive avoidance task.

Full Abstract

Understanding hippocampal participation in memory processes is one of the goals in neuroscience research. By blocking the hippocampus unilaterally in Wistar rats, we assessed the contribution of this brain structure to memory in a passive avoidance task. Subjects were distributed into four groups. Group 1 received tetrodotoxin (TTX) in the right hippocampus during acquisition and retrieval phases. Group 2 had the same procedure as group 1, except that the contralateral hippocampus was blocked during retrieval. Subjects from group 3 acquired the task with saline (both hippocampi intact) and retrieved with the right hippocampus inactivated. Finally, group 4 received TTX unilaterally 2 min after acquisition to determine the hippocampal role in consolidation. Results showed that group 2 was impaired, compared with the other groups, during retrieval. These findings reveal that the hippocampal contribution to this task differs from that in other tasks considered to be hippocampus dependent.(c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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Author information

Author/s: Cimadevilla, J M (JM); Mendez, M (M); Mendez-Lopez, M (M); Arias, J L (JL);

Affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Almeria, Almeria, Spain.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of neuroscience research (J Neurosci Res), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Apr; vol 85 (issue 5) : pp 1138-42

Dates: Created 2007/03/27; Completed 2007/07/18;

PMID: 17335088, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals
Avoidance Learning - drug effects; physiology
Denervation
Functional Laterality - physiology
Hippocampus - drug effects; physiology
Male
Memory Disorders - chemically induced; physiopathology

Neural Pathways - drug effects; physiology
Neurons - drug effects; physiology
Neuropsychological Tests
Rats
Rats, Wistar
Sodium Channel Blockers - pharmacology
Tetrodotoxin - pharmacology

Associated Chemicals: Sodium Channel Blockers (0) ; Tetrodotoxin (4368-28-9)

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