Behavioral differences in the developing rat following postnatal anoxia or postnatally injected AF-64A, a cholinergic neurotoxin

Zipora Speiser*, Judith Amitzi-Sonder, Simon Gitter, Sasson Cohen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Rat pups were submitted postnatally to one of two procedures: a 25-min exposure to 100% nitrogen or an i.c.v. bilateral injection of AF-64A, 2 nmol contained in 1-μl saline. Throughout further development of either group, their performance in passive and active avoidance tests and in amphetamine-induced stereotype behavior was followed and compared. Both groups exhibited hyperactivity which persisted until 42 days of age in the anoxia group and beyond 120 days in the AF-64A group. Both groups were equally inferior to controls in the passive avoidance test, but only the anoxia group was inferior to controls in the active avoidance test. Amphetamine-induced stereotype behavior was much less pronounced in the anoxia group relative to AF-64A-treated rats or to controls. The results suggest that the lesion induced by the neurotoxin is more specific and less widespread than the one caused by anoxia.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)89-94
Number of pages6
JournalBehavioural Brain Research
Volume30
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Sep 1988

Keywords

  • AF-64A neurotoxin
  • Active avoidance
  • Cholinergic hypofunction
  • Dopaminergic hypofunction
  • Locomotor activity
  • Passive avoidance
  • Postnatal anoxia
  • Stereotypy

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