Abstract
There is evidence that in rats, partial hippocampal lesions or selective ablation of the CA3 subfield can disrupt retrieval of spatial memory and that hippocampal damage disinhibits hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA)-axis activity, thereby elevating plasma levels of adrenocorticotropin and corticosterone. Here we report evidence that attenuation of CA3 lesion-induced increases in circulating corticosterone levels with the synthesis inhibitor metyrapone, administered shortly before water-maze retention testing, blocks the impairing effects of the lesion on memory retrieval. These findings suggest that elevated adrenocortical activity is critical in mediating memory retrieval deficits induced by hippocampal damage.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Adrenal Cortex / drug effects
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Adrenal Cortex / metabolism*
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Animals
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Corticosterone / antagonists & inhibitors
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Corticosterone / metabolism*
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Hippocampus / injuries
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Hippocampus / physiopathology*
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Hippocampus / surgery
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Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / physiopathology*
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Kainic Acid
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Male
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Maze Learning / drug effects
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Maze Learning / physiology
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Memory / physiology
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Memory Disorders / drug therapy
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Memory Disorders / etiology
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Memory Disorders / physiopathology*
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Nerve Degeneration / chemically induced
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Nerve Degeneration / physiopathology
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Neural Inhibition / drug effects
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Neural Inhibition / physiology*
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Neural Pathways / injuries
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Neural Pathways / physiopathology
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Neural Pathways / surgery
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Pituitary-Adrenal System / drug effects
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Pituitary-Adrenal System / physiopathology*
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Pyridines / pharmacology
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Rats
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Rats, Sprague-Dawley
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Reaction Time / drug effects
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Reaction Time / physiology
Substances
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Pyridines
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metapyrone
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Kainic Acid
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Corticosterone