Brioni J D, Arolfo M P, Jerusalinsky D, Medina J H, Izquierdo I
Departamento de Farmacologia, Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina.
Behav Neural Biol. 1991 Nov;56(3):329-35. doi: 10.1016/0163-1047(91)90514-q.
The effect of flumazenil, a benzodiazepine-receptor antagonist, was evaluated in a spatial-reference memory procedure in a water maze. Flumazenil (1.0, 3.0, and 10.0 mg/kg, ip) did not modify acquisition of spatial information. Retention was similar between control and experimental rats 24 h after the training phase, as all groups showed bias to the target quadrant in a free swim trial. However, 10 days later, only flumazenil-injected rats (3.0 mg/kg) showed bias to the target quadrant. Flumazenil did not affect retrieval of spatial information in a group of well-trained rats. These results suggest that a benzodiazepine-receptor mediated endogenous mechanism is activated during learning of spatial tasks and that its blockade facilitates retention of spatial information.
