Chronic administration of clozapine alleviates reversal-learning impairment in isolation-reared rats.

Full Abstract

Isolation rearing has been used for inducing schizophrenia-like symptoms in rats. Human schizophrenics have deficits in prefrontal-dysfunction-related cognitive/behavioral flexibility. Rats with lesions of the medial prefrontal cortex perform poorly in reversal learning. It is uncertain whether isolation rearing, however, causes reversal-learning impairment in adult rats. Using the rotating T maze, this study examined the effect of chronic administration of clozapine on visual discrimination learning and reversal learning in isolation-reared and socially reared adult rats. The results show that isolation-reared rats without clozapine injection performed significantly worse than socially reared rats in reversal learning but not in acquisition learning. Chronic injection of clozapine (5 or 10 mg/kg) in isolation-reared rats significantly improved reversal learning but had no effects on acquisition learning. Further data analyses show that in both the inhibition phase and the new-strategy-acquisition phase of reversal learning, isolation-reared rats needed significantly more correct-response trials to reach the criterion than socially reared rats, and clozapine significantly reduced the isolation-induced impairment of reversal learning only in the new-strategy-acquisition phase. In socially reared rats, clozapine had a dose-related interfering effect on reversal learning but not acquisition learning. This study supports the use of isolation rearing as a model for investigating the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Li, Nanxin (N); Wu, Xihong (X); Li, Liang (L);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Speech and Hearing Research Center, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Journal and publication information

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

Journal: Behavioural pharmacology (Behav Pharmacol), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Mar; vol 18 (issue 2) : pp 135-45

Dates: Created 2007/03/12; Completed 2007/05/08;

PMID: 17351420, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals
Antipsychotic Agents - pharmacology
Clozapine - pharmacology
Discrimination Learning - drug effects
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Learning Disorders - drug therapy; etiology; psychology
Male

Male
Maze Learning - drug effects
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Reversal Learning - drug effects
Social Isolation - psychology
Visual Perception - drug effects

Associated Chemicals: Antipsychotic Agents (0) ; Clozapine (5786-21-0)

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.