Zheng Yiwen, Goddard Matthew, Darlington Cynthia L, Smith Paul F
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Hippocampus. 2007;17(4):253-6. doi: 10.1002/hipo.20266.
Converging behavioral, electrophysiological, and neurochemical data suggest that lesions to the peripheral vestibular system result in impairment of the hippocampus. Nonetheless, relatively few studies have examined the hippocampus or behavior related to it, over a long period of time following the lesion, to determine if any recovery takes place. Here we used the spatial forced alternation task in a T maze, which is sensitive to the integrity of the hippocampus, to evaluate learning and memory in rats at 3 weeks, 3 months, and 5 months following bilateral vestibular deafferentation (BVD) or sham surgery. BVD rats made significantly fewer correct choices at all time points when compared with the sham controls. However, the percentage correct choice for BVD rats was at chance level at 3 weeks postop, and was significantly above chance at 5 months postop. These results add to the evidence that BVD causes a long-term impairment of hippocampal function and spatial learning and memory, but suggest that some recovery of function might take place over the long term.
越来越多的行为学、电生理学和神经化学数据表明，外周前庭系统损伤会导致海马体功能受损。尽管如此，相对较少的研究在损伤后的很长一段时间内检查过海马体或与之相关的行为，以确定是否会发生任何恢复。在这里，我们使用对海马体完整性敏感的T迷宫中的空间强迫交替任务，来评估双侧前庭去传入（BVD）或假手术后3周、3个月和5个月大鼠的学习和记忆。与假手术对照组相比，BVD大鼠在所有时间点的正确选择都明显更少。然而，BVD大鼠的正确选择百分比在术后3周时处于随机水平，而在术后5个月时显著高于随机水平。这些结果进一步证明，BVD会导致海马体功能以及空间学习和记忆的长期损伤，但也表明长期来看可能会发生一些功能恢复。
