Ahlers S T, Riccio D C
Behav Neurosci. 1987 Jun;101(3):333-40. doi: 10.1037//0735-7044.101.3.333.
Anterograde amnesia (AA), forgetting of events that occur following a traumatic episode, has recently been demonstrated by using a mild decrease in temperature (hypothermia) as the amnestic agent. However, no data currently exist to indicate if an increase in body temperature (hyperthermia) might affect memory processing in a similar manner. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that increasing the colonic body temperature of the rat to 3-4 degrees C or more above normal during avoidance training produced a significant retention loss when the test occurred 24 hr after training. Slight hyperthermia to 1-2 degrees C above normal did not impair retention. In Experiment 3, AA resulting from an elevation in temperature was reversed by reheating "amnestic" subjects just prior to the 24-hr test. By rapidly reversing hyperthermia immediately after the training trial with a cooling procedure, Experiment 4 demonstrated that hyperthermia-induced AA was not the result of retrograde influences of the heating treatment. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of possible retention deficits which could conceivably follow environmental heat stress or fever hyperthermia resulting from bacterial infection.
顺行性遗忘（AA），即对创伤性事件之后发生的事情的遗忘，最近通过使用轻度体温降低（低温）作为遗忘剂得到了证实。然而，目前尚无数据表明体温升高（高温）是否可能以类似方式影响记忆处理。实验1和实验2表明，在回避训练期间将大鼠的结肠体温升高至比正常体温高3 - 4摄氏度或更多，当在训练后24小时进行测试时，会导致显著的记忆保持丧失。略高于正常体温1 - 2摄氏度的轻度高温不会损害记忆保持。在实验3中，通过在24小时测试前重新加热“遗忘”的实验对象，逆转了由体温升高导致的顺行性遗忘。实验4通过在训练试验后立即用冷却程序迅速逆转高温，证明高温诱导的顺行性遗忘不是加热处理逆行影响的结果。根据环境热应激或细菌感染引起的发热性高温可能导致的潜在记忆保持缺陷，对这些结果的意义进行了讨论。
