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Differential Effects of Anterior and Posterior Insular Cortex Lesions on the Acquisition of Conditioned Taste Aversion and Spatial Learning

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Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the effects of NMDA-induced lesions in different sites of the insular cortex of the rat on the acquisition of conditioned taste aversion and spatial learning in the Morris water maze. The lesions were produced by bilateral microinjections of NMDA in the insular cortex at +3.7 mm (Anterior group), +1.7 mm (Central group), and −0.3 mm (Posterior group) anteroposterior from bregma. The results showed that the central and posterior, but not the anterior, lesions disrupted the acquisition of water maze learning as measured by the high latency to reach the target. In contrast, the conditioned taste aversion learning was disrupted by lesions in the central but not in the anterior or posterior insular cortex. These data confirm functional heterogeneity of the insular cortex and demonstrate that the more caudal parts are only necessary for acquisition of the water maze task, while the central insular cortex is crucial for the acquisition of both the conditioned taste aversion learning and the Morris water maze.

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This research was supported by a scholarship given by CONACYT to L.N., by Facultad de Psicologı́a U.N.A.M for support given to V.R.A., and by DGAPA-UNAM IN201983. We acknowledge the technical assistance of Oreste Carbajal and Federico Jandete and give thanks to Yolanda Dı́az de Castro for preparing the manuscript. Correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed to F. Bermúdez-Rattoni, Instituto de Fisiologı́a Celular, UNAM, Apartado postal 70-253, 04510 México, D.F., México. Fax: (525)-622-5607. E-mail: [email protected].

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