In young Wistar rats conditioned emotional stress can be characterized by a learned bradycardiac response to an inescapable footshock. In aged rats this bradycardiac response is attenuated and accompanied by suppressed behavioral arousal in response to novelty. In the present study, cardiac responses to emotional stress and behavioral reactivity to a novel experience in an open field were tested in aged and young rats under the influence of a low dose of d-amphetamine (AMPH, 0.5 mg/kg IP). AMPH administration in 27-month-old rats reinstated the bradycardiac response to emotional stress, while it failed to influence the resting heart rate in the home cage. Age-associated differences in open-field ambulation, present in drug-free conditions, were antagonized by low doses of AMPH (0.25-1.0 mg/kg). It is concluded that enhanced arousal by aminergic stimulation with AMPH in the aged rat invoked cardiac and behavioral response patterns resembling those at younger ages.

Aging↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Passive avoidance training induces enhanced levels of immunoreactivity for muscarinic acetylcholine receptor and coexpressed PKC gamma and MAP-2 in rat cortical neurons.

Changes in neocortical immunoreactivity (ir) for muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs), protein kinase C gamma (PKC gamma), microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP-2), and the calcium-binding protein parvalbumin (PARV) induced by the performance of a one-trial passive shock avoidance (PSA) task were studied in young adult male Wistar rats. In experiment I, four groups of animals were formed: three control groups (N, naive; H, habituated but nonshocked; and S, habituated and shocked), and a fully trained group (T, habituated and shocked, followed by a retention trial 24 hr after the footshock). Compared to naive animals, the H, S, and T animals all revealed enhanced cortical ir for mAChRs, PKC gamma, and MAP-2 in discrete subsets of cortical neurons in layers 2, 3, and 5, while no changes were found for PARV. The neurons displaying enhanced levels of ir are of the pyramidal and nonpyramidal cell type and are arranged in a columnar manner. Immunofluorescent double-labeling experiments for mAChR, PKC gamma, and MAP-2 revealed that individual cortical neurons localized within the columns display enhanced ir for all three functionally related proteins. Compared to naive animals, all experimental groups revealed significant increases in the total size of cortical areas showing enhanced ir (H, S, and T over N). A further significant increase is found in animals receiving a footshock over nonshocked animals (S over H, respectively). The retention trial, however, did not induce a further increase (T over S). In some of the animals the patterns appeared to be lateralized, in either the left or right hemisphere. In order to test the role of cholinergic innervation in the induction of enhanced mAChR-ir, unilateral lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (nbm) were performed in experiment II. Apparently, an intact cholinergic innervation from the nbm is not required for the occurrence of the aforementioned columnar patterns. However, when the enhanced columnar patterns in the sensory areas of the cortex are cholinergically deprived, clear deficits in PSA performance are observed. These results indicate that although ACh is not a prerequisite for the induction of enhanced ir for mAChRs in cortical cells, such neurons demand cholinergic neurotransmission for optimal retention of the shock experience. The alterations in ir for coexpressed mAChR, PKC gamma, and MAP-2 in a discrete subset of cholinoceptive cortical neurons arranged in characteristic patterns most likely represent part of the neuronal substrate involved in functional cortical plasticity related to PSA training.

Acetylcholinesterase↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Vasopressin, oxytocin and memory: effects on consolidation and retrieval processes.

Vasopressin and oxytocin of hypothalamic neurosecretory origin affect both consolidation and retrieval of memory but in an opposite manner. Vasopressin facilitates these processes while oxytocin appears to be an amnesic neuropeptide. Additionally, vasopressin and a number of fragments of this peptide are able to prevent but also to reverse experimental amnesia. Structure activity studies suggest that the neurohypophyseal hormones may serve as mothermolecules for behaviorally active peptides which selectively affect consolidation or retrieval processes. The mechanism by which these neuropeptides modulate memory processes is likely an interaction with the impulse flow in aminergic systems in particular in the limbic-midbrain areas. It is suggested that experimental observations may be of predictive value for the clinical use of neuropeptides at memory disturbances.

Animals↗