Reid Rosemary E, Kim Eun-Mee, Page Deaglan, O'Mara Shane M, O'Hare Eugene
School of Psychology, University of Ulster at Jordanstown, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.
Physiol Behav. 2007 Jun 8;91(2-3):299-303. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.03.005. Epub 2007 Mar 15.
This study examined the effects of thyroxine (T(4)) treatment on spatial learning and memory in congenitally hypothyroid (CH) rats. Forty CH male offspring of methimazole-treated dams were randomly divided into three groups: no T(4) (vehicle) treatment (n=12), T(4) treatment commencing on postnatal day (P-) 7 (n=14), and T(4) treatment commencing on P-21 (n=14). Normal male rats were used as a control group (n=14). T(4) was administered daily (sc, 0.02 microg/g) to the treatment groups for 30 days. A water-maze was used to assess behaviour at 42, 70 and 98 days of age. T(4) treatment beginning at P-7 improved learning and memory associated with CH at 70 and 98 days of age but T(4) treatment beginning at P-21 did not improve CH-impaired learning and memory.
