Long-term effects of neonatal MK-801 treatment on spatial learning and cortical plasticity in adult rats

Németh, Hajnalka and Varga, Hedvig and Farkas, Tamás and Kis, Zsolt and Vécsei, László and Horváth, Szatmár and Boda, Krisztina and Wolff, Joachim R. and Toldi, József (2002) Long-term effects of neonatal MK-801 treatment on spatial learning and cortical plasticity in adult rats. Psychopharmacology, 160 (1). pp. 1-8. ISSN 0033-3158 (print), 1432-2072 (online)

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Abstract

Rationale and objectives: The long-term effects of neonatal treatment with MK-801 on spatial learning and cortical plasticity were investigated in adult rats. Methods: Rat pups were injected twice daily with MK-801 (0.1 mg/kg) on postnatal days 7–19, participated in water maze testing between postnatal days 90 and 102, and were then studied electrophysiologically. Results: Treatment with MK-801 in such a low dose resulted in a very slight impairment of performance in the water maze task, but not in the visual cue response. Besides the slight learning impairment, the electrophysiological study revealed a reduction in the capacity for plasticity in the primary motor cortex of the treated animals, which was pronounced in the controls. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that even a slight impairment in learning and memory function may be accompanied by a cortical plasticity deficiency that is detectable electrophysiologically.

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