[Intrahippocampal injection of NGF accelerates spontaneous alteration ontogenesis and the maturation of septohippocampal cholinergic innervation in rats].

A single intrahippocampal injection of nerve growth factor (NGF), performed on postnatal (PND) 8 or 13, accelerated the development of spontaneous alternation in rats. This precocity was of approximately 5 days, appearing on the 4th day after the treatment and persisting through to the end of the development (PND 40). Combined microinjections of NGF and an antimuscarinic (atropine) or an antinicotinic (mecamylamine) substance have indicated that NGF probably acts through accelerating the development of the septo-hippocampal cholinergic fibers involved in this behavior.