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PubMed1997

Exposure to chronic psychosocial stress and corticosterone in the rat: effects on spatial discrimination learning and hippocampal protein kinase Cgamma immunoreactivity.

Previous reports have demonstrated a striking increase of the immunoreactivity of the gamma-isoform of protein kinase C (PKCgamma-ir) in Ammon's horn and dentate gyrus (DG) of rodent hippocampus after training in a spatial orientation task. In the present study, we investigated how 8 days of psychosocial stress affects spatial discrimination learning in a hole board and influences PKCgamma-ir in the hippocampal formation. The acquisition of both reference memory and working memory was significantly delayed in the stressed animals during the entire training period. With respect to cellular plasticity, the training experience in both nonstressed and stressed groups yielded enhanced PKCgamma-ir in the CA1 and CA3 regions of the posterior hippocampus but not in subfields of the anterior hippocampus. Stress enhanced PKCgamma-ir in the DG and CA3 pyramidal cells of the anterior hippocampus. In stressed animals that were subsequently trained, the PKCgamma-ir was increased in the posterior CA1 region to the same level as that found in nonstressed trained animals. Stress apparently abrogated the PKCgamma-ir training response in the CA3 region. In a second experiment, the elevation of plasma corticosterone levels to values that are found during stress did not significantly influence reference memory scores but slightly and temporarily affected working memory. The training-induced enhancement of PKCgamma-ir in the CA1 region was similar in trained and corticosterone-treated trained animals, but the learning-induced PKCgamma-ir response in the posterior CA3 area was absent after corticosterone pretreatment. These results reveal that prolonged psychosocial stress causes spatial learning deficits, whereas artificial elevation of corticosterone levels to the levels that occur during stress only mildly affects spatial memory performance. The spatial learning deficits following stress are reflected only in part in the redistribution of hippocampal PKCgamma-ir following training.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMed1999

Comparison of medial and lateral septal neuron activity during performance of spatial tasks in rats.

The septal complex, having close and reciprocal connections with the hippocampus, is known to play an important role in learning and memory. Anatomically, the septal complex is divided into the medial and lateral areas (MS and LS). In the present study, in order to elucidate functional differences between the MS and LS, we recorded single unit activity in the MS or LS and electroencephalogram (EEG) in the hippocampus simultaneously while the rats performed the following 2 spatial tasks in an open-field chamber. In task 1, the rat received rewarding intracranial electrical stimulation (ICES) when it entered in a reward place that was set randomly in the open field in each trial. In task 2, the rat received rewarding ICES when it alternately visited two fixed reward places in the open field. Unit activity was analyzed in relation to the pattern of hippocampal EEG, and rat's location, locomotion direction and locomotion speed in the spatial tasks. A total of 47 neurons were recorded in the septal complex (MS, 19; LS, 28). The majority of neurons with activity correlated with hippocampal EEG were found in the MS (14/19). All of the neurons with place-related activity (an increase in unit activity when the rat was in a specific location in the open field) were found in the LS (n = 15). The majority of neurons with direction-related activity were found in the LS (18/23). Twenty-one neurons displayed speed-related activity (MS, 9; LS, 12). The present results indicate that (1) the MS is directly involved in the formation and control of hippocampal EEG patterns, and (2) the LS is important for the processing and integration of spatial information in the environment.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Synaptogenesis of mossy fibers induced by spatial water maze overtraining.

Synaptic plasticity has been proposed as a mechanism underlying learning and memory. Synaptic reorganization of hippocampal mossy fibers has been observed after experimentally induced epilepsy, and after brief high-frequency activation inducing long-term potentiation. Furthermore, it has been suggested that synaptic changes in the hippocampus may occur after spatial learning. In this study, by using a zinc-detecting histologic technique (Timm), we demonstrate a significant increase of mossy fiber terminals in the CA3 stratum oriens region induced by training rats during 3 days in a spatial Morris water maze. In contrast, animals trained for only 1 day and animals that were just allowed to swim or were overtrained in a stress-motivated inhibitory avoidance task did not show increments of mossy fiber terminals in the stratum oriens. Electron microscopy confirmed that synaptic density of mossy fiber terminals in the stratum oriens increases significantly in water maze overtrained animals compared with the swimming control animals. Taken together, these results suggest that overtraining in a spatial learning task induces mossy fiber synaptogenesis that could be involved in the mechanisms underlying long-term memory storage. Hippocampus 1999;9:631-636.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1999

Dentate gyrus-selective colchicine lesion and disruption of performance in spatial tasks: difficulties in "place strategy" because of a lack of flexibility in the use of environmental cues?

The effects of intradentate colchicine injections on the performance of tasks requiring spatial working and reference memory are controversial. Multiple-site colchicine injections (7 microg/microl; via a drawn micropipette) throughout the dentate gyrus (DG) of rats (nine sites in each hemisphere, 0.06 microl at each site) selectively destroy about 90% of the DG granule cells, as revealed by quantitative stereological estimates; stereology also revealed minor neuronal losses in the CA4 (33%) and CA1 (23%) subfields, but lack of damage to the CA3 hippocampal subfield. Spatial reference and working memory were assessed in Morris' water maze; in the reference memory task, the rats were required to learn a single, fixed location for the platform over several days of training; in the working memory task, animals were required to learn a new platform location every day, in a matching-to-place procedure. Compared to sham-operated controls, lesioned rats showed significant disruption in acquisition of the reference memory water maze task; however, the data reveal that these rats did acquire relevant information about the task, probably based on guidance and orientation strategies. In a subsequent probe test, with the platform removed, lesioned rats showed disruption in precise indexes of spatial memory (e.g., driving search towards the surroundings of the former platform location), but not in less precise indexes of spatial location. Finally, the lesioned rats showed no improvement in the match-to-place procedure, suggesting that their working memory for places was disrupted. Thus, although capable of acquiring relevant information about the task, possibly through guidance and/or orientation strategies, DG-lesioned rats exhibit a marked difficulty in place strategies. This is particularly evident when these rats are required to deal with one-trial place learning in a familiar environment, such as in the working memory version of the water maze task, which requires flexibility in the use of previously acquired information.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Use of proximal and distal cues in place navigation by mice changes during ontogeny.

The ontogeny of the ability of C57BL/6 mice to use different cues for spatial learning was examined in several Morris water maze tasks. In the first two studies, three learning procedures were used, in which only distal cues (place learning), only proximal cues (cue learning), or both proximal and distal cues (cue + place learning) were pertinent to localize the platform. The results indicated that whatever the procedure, 22-day-old mice showed the same capabilities as adults. Moreover, in the cue + place-learning procedure, although the distal cues were not necessary to solve the task, both young and adult mice demonstrated the integration of distal information by exhibiting a strong spatial bias during a probe test. However, in the third experiment, it was shown that nonpertinent proximal cues perturbed 22-day-old mice in a place-learning procedure. Taken together, these results suggest that while even the youngest mice show striking spatial navigation abilities, young mice give greater importance to proximal cues for orientation whereas adults preferentially use distal information.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Aggressiveness, maladjustment, body experience and the protective function of personal space.

Considering the view that personal space may serve to protect individuals from unpleasant feelings, preference for personal space was related in this study to psychological maladjustment, aggressiveness, and body experience (N = 100). The results indicated that individuals who tend to be maladjusted and individuals who tend to be aggressive preferred more personal space in face-to-face encounters in which the S was approached by a stranger. With regard to measures of body boundary experience, high Barrier scores were found to be related to preference for more personal space in face-to-face encounters in which the S approached a stranger. With regard to people's perception of the spatial dimensions of their bodies, the more individuals tended to underestimate the size of their bodies, the more personal space they tended to prefer. Results were regarded as generally congruent with the protection theory of the use of personal space.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Cognitive profiles associated with the fra(X) syndrome in males and females.

Twenty-three fragile X [fra(X)] males (mean IQ 50, mean age 10 years) and 11 fra(X) females (mean IQ 84, mean age 11.3 years) were administered the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, 4th ed. (S-B). The cognitive profiles generated from the S-B indicated a pattern of subtest strengths and weaknesses that was similar for both groups. Consistent weaknesses in both groups were found in quantitative skills and short-term memory recall for visually presented, abstract stimuli, whereas a consistent strength was observed for short-term memory recall of visually presented, meaningful stimuli. Strengths in verbal labeling and comprehension and deficits in spatial visualization and visual-motor coordination were identified by the S-B for the male group but not for the female group. Fragility in the female group was negatively correlated with the S-B score for the short-term memory area and the combined S-B scores for the verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning areas. The specific, S-B-identified cognitive strengths and weaknesses associated with the fra(X) condition are potentially useful indicators for investigation of specific cognitive process deficits associated with the fra(X) condition and the design of appropriate educational interventions for fra(X) children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

So near yet so far: neglect in far or near space depends on tool use.

The study of unilateral spatial neglect has shown that space can be dissociated on a peripersonal versus extrapersonal basis. We report a novel type of dissociation based on tool use in a patient suffering from left neglect. Line bisection was carried out in near and far space, using a stick and a laser pointer. A rightward bias was always found for the former, but not for the latter. Neglect thus appears to be contingent not only on distance, but also on the motor action required by the task.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Hemispheric mediation of spatial attention: pseudoneglect after callosal stroke.

Study of patients with callosal lesions can provide insight into the mediation of spatial attention-intention by each hemisphere. Two patients with anterior callosal strokes bisected lines to the left of midline with the left hand and to the right of midline with the right in both a visual and tactile bisection task. The patients demonstrated a similar pattern of performance on pointing to body-midline in space. These results are consistent with the notion that each hemisphere supports spatial attention-intention toward contralateral space and that the corpus callosum is critical in the integration of such information.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Weak extremely-low-frequency magnetic fields and regeneration in the planarian Dugesia tigrina.

Extremely-low-frequency (ELF), low-intensity magnetic fields have been shown to influence cell signaling processes in a variety of systems, both in vivo and in vitro. Similar effects have been demonstrated for nervous system development and neurite outgrowth. We report that regeneration in planaria, which incorporates many of these processes, is also affected by ELF magnetic fields. The rate of cephalic regeneration, reflected by the mean regeneration time (MRT), for planaria populations regenerating under continuous exposure to combined DC (78.4 muT) and AC (60.0 Hz at 10.0 muTpeak) magnetic fields applied in parallel was found to be significantly delayed (P << 0.001) by 48 +/- 1 h relative to two different types of control populations (MRT approximately 140 +/- 12 h). One control population was exposed to only the AC component of this field combination, while the other experienced only the ambient geomagnetic field. All measurements were conducted in a low-gradient, low-noise magnetics laboratory under well-maintained temperature conditions. This delay in regeneration was shown to be dependent on the planaria having a fixed orientation with respect to the magnetic field vectors. Results also indicate that this orientation-dependent transduction process does not result from Faraday induction but is consistent with a Ca2+ cyclotron resonance mechanism. Data interpretation also permits the tentative conclusion that the effect results from an inhibition of events at an early stage in the regeneration process before the onset of proliferation and differentiation.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Predicting the home location of serial offenders: a preliminary comparison of the accuracy of human judges with a geographic profiling system.

The accuracy with which human judges, before and after 'training', could predict the likely home location of serial offenders was compared with predictions produced by a geographic profiling system known as Dragnet. All predictions were derived from ten spatial displays, one for each of ten different U.S. serial murderers, indicating five crime locations. In all conditions participants were asked to place an 'X' on each spatial display corresponding to where they thought the offender lived. In the control condition, a comparison was made between the accuracy of these predictions for 21 participants on two separate occasions a few minutes apart. In the experimental condition, between their first and second predictions the 21 participants were given two heuristics to follow--distance-decay and circle hypothesis. Results showed that participants with no previous knowledge of geographic profiling were able to use the two heuristics to improve the accuracy of their predictions. The overall accuracy of the second set of predictions for the experimental group was also not significantly different from the accuracy of predictions generated by Dragnet.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Descending neurons supplying the neck and flight motor of Diptera: physiological and anatomical characteristics.

In Diptera, dorsal neuropils of the pro-, meso-, and metathoracic ganglia supply motor neurons to neck and flight muscles. Motor circuits are supplied by more than 50 pairs of descending neurons (DNs) whose dendritic trees in the brain are restricted to dorsal neuropils of the deutocerebrum where they are grouped together into discrete clusters. Each cluster is visited by wide-field motion-sensitive neurons and by morphologically small-field retinotopic elements. This organization suggests that flight descending neurons should respond to complex stimuli reflecting panoramic movement and small-field motion. Intracellular recordings, combined with dye filling, confirm this. Certain descending neurons responding to visual flow fields terminate bilaterally in superficial pterothoracic neuropils, at the level of indirect (power) flight muscle motor neurons. Other DNs terminate laterally, and provide segmental collaterals to areas containing neck and direct (steering) flight muscle motor neurons. Such DNs are activated by wide-field directional stimuli corresponding to pitch, roll, or yaw, and to small-field stimuli. Appropriate directional mechanosensory stimuli also activate dorsal descending neurons. The significance of dorsal descending neurons for the control of flight is discussed and compared with studies on course deviation neurons in other insects. It is suggested that, in Diptera, dorsal descending neurons may separately be involved in the control of velocity, stabilization, and steering manoeuvres.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

The effects of age and sex on mental rotation performance, verbal performance, and brain electrical activity.

This study examined the effects of age and sex on mental rotation performance, verbal performance, and brain-wave activity. Thirty-two 8-year-olds (16 boys) and 32 college students (16 men) had EEG recorded at baseline and while performing four computerized tasks: a two-dimensional (2D) gingerbread man mental rotation, a 2D alphanumeric mental rotation, of three-dimensional (3D) basketball player mental rotation, and lexical decision making. Additionally, participants completed a paper- and pencil water level task and an oral verbal fluency task. On the 2D alphanumeric and 3D basketball player mental rotation tasks, men performed better than boys, but the performance of women and girls did not differ. On the water level task, men performed better than women whereas there was no difference between boys and girls. No sex differences were found on the 2D gingerbread man mental rotation, lexical decision-making, and verbal fluency tasks. EEG analyses indicated that men exhibited left posterior temporal activation during the 2D alphanumeric task and that men and boys both exhibited greater left parietal activation than women and girls during the 2D gingerbread man task. On the 3D basketball player mental rotation task, all participants exhibited greater activation of the right parietal area than the left parietal area. These data give insight into the brain activity and cognitive development changes that occur between childhood and adulthood.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Serial reversal learning of position discrimination in developing rats.

The current study established a procedure to evaluate the capability of rats on postnatal days (PND) 21, 26, and 30 to perform a spatial serial reversal task using a T-maze. Training consisted of an acquisition session followed by a series of six reversal sessions. To examine the role of proactive interference in the serial reversal effect, the point of reversal was manipulated so that it occurred at the start of each session (between-sessions) or the midpoint of each session (within-sessions). Performance was initially impaired during the first reversal but improved dramatically across the series. Reversal between-sessions enhanced this serial reversal effect in comparison to reversal within-sessions. Experiment 1 showed that rats of all ages learned the between-sessions serial reversal task at a comparable rate. However, on the within-sessions task, PND21 rats were impaired relative to the PND26 and 30 rats, which did not differ. Experiment 2 revealed that the addition of a tactile cue that is correlated with each phase of reversal eliminated age and task differences in serial reversal performance. These findings suggest that higher-order cognitive processes underlying serial reversal are present during the weanling period, but there is some improvement with age under conditions involving high memory interference and/or difficulty in detecting the transition between reversal phases.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1977

Effect of arousal conditions during reinstatement treatment upon learned fear in young rats.

The role of shock and epinephrine-induced arousal in the reinstatement of learned fear was investigated in young rats. Groups of 21-day-old rats received classical fear conditioning to the black compartment of a black/white avoidance box. One week later each rat received one of a number of reinstatement conditions consisting of exposure to the apparatus cues, non-contingent foot shock, or exogenous epinephrine injections, alone or in combination. Subjects were tested for retention of spatial avoidance behavior 1 week following reinstatement. Reinstatement with epinephrine and exposure to the training contextual cues, non-contingent foot shock followed by cue exposure, and non-contingent foot shock alone were all found to be as effective as shock administered in conjunction with the cues (the same conditions as those prevailing during training). Cue exposure alone and epinephrine injections without the training cues were ineffective reinstating agents.

Animals↗