Normile H J, Jenden D J, Kuhn D M, Wolf W A, Altman H J
Department of Psychiatry, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48207.
Brain Res. 1990 Dec 17;536(1-2):245-50. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(90)90031-6.
The purpose of the present experiment was to determine the effects of lesions of cholinergic neurons originating from the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM), alone or in combination with central serotonin depletion, on learning and memory in rats trained in the Stone 14-unit T-maze--a complex, positively-reinforced spatial discrimination task. Lesion of cholinergic neurons within the NBM was accomplished by bilateral infusion of ibotenic acid. Serotonin depletion was accomplished by the systemic administration of p-chloroamphetamine (PCA). The results show that PCA-induced serotonin depletion enhanced learning. This effect was completely prevented by NBM lesions, despite the fact that NBM lesions alone did not affect the performance of rats in this task. The results of this study support the view that the cholinergic and serotonergic systems may functionally interact in learning and memory processes. The significance of this interaction in the etiology and treatment of dementia should be further investigated.
本实验的目的是确定源自大细胞基底核（NBM）的胆碱能神经元损伤单独或与中枢5-羟色胺耗竭相结合，对在斯通14单元T型迷宫（一种复杂的、阳性强化的空间辨别任务）中训练的大鼠学习和记忆的影响。通过双侧注入鹅膏蕈氨酸来实现NBM内胆碱能神经元的损伤。通过全身给予对氯苯丙胺（PCA）来实现5-羟色胺耗竭。结果表明，PCA诱导的5-羟色胺耗竭增强了学习能力。尽管单独的NBM损伤并不影响大鼠在此任务中的表现，但NBM损伤完全阻止了这种效应。本研究结果支持这样一种观点，即胆碱能和5-羟色胺能系统在学习和记忆过程中可能在功能上相互作用。这种相互作用在痴呆症病因学和治疗中的意义应进一步研究。
