Nakamura-Palacios E M, Caldas C K, Fiorini A, Chagas K D, Chagas K N, Vasquez E C
Department of Physiological Sciences, Federal University of Espirito Santo, Vitoria, ES, Brazil.
Behav Brain Res. 1996 Jan;74(1-2):217-27. doi: 10.1016/0166-4328(95)00165-4.
It is possible that behavioral dysfunction, including cognitive, perceptual and psychomotor impairments in hypertensive subjects, can be the result of the high blood pressure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) in the acquisition and execution of tasks in an 8-arm radial maze. Male Wistar normotensive rats (CON, n = 11) and SHR (n = 12), 3 months old, were first submitted to a series of training sessions to enter each of the 8 arms once in a given session (task acquisition), and errors (revisiting an arm in the same session) were computed. Errors before and after two delay intervals (5 s and 1 h, introduced between the fourth and fifth arm choice) were measured. These delayed tests allowed us to evaluate the working memory in different terms. It was observed that the SHR group made slightly more errors during the acquisition sessions and in the execution of the post-delay of 5-s interval tests, and significantly in the execution of the post-delay of 1-h interval tests compared to the CON. These results show that the SHR has a deficiency in the performance of the radial maze, suggestive of impairment of learning and working memory, mainly for a long-term memory, corroborating the hypothesis about the possible behavioral consequences of hypertension.
高血压患者的行为功能障碍，包括认知、感知和精神运动障碍，有可能是高血压所致。本研究旨在评估自发性高血压大鼠（SHR）在八臂辐射状迷宫中执行任务及获取任务能力方面的表现。选用3月龄雄性Wistar正常血压大鼠（CON，n = 11）和SHR（n = 12），首先让它们接受一系列训练，以便在特定实验环节中每个八臂都进入一次（任务获取），并计算错误次数（在同一次实验环节中再次进入某一臂）。测量在两个延迟间隔（在第四和第五次选臂之间设置5秒和1小时）前后的错误次数。这些延迟测试使我们能够从不同方面评估工作记忆。结果发现，与CON组相比，SHR组在获取实验环节以及5秒间隔延迟测试后的执行过程中出现的错误略多，而在1小时间隔延迟测试后的执行过程中出现的错误显著增多。这些结果表明，SHR在辐射状迷宫任务执行方面存在缺陷，提示学习和工作记忆受损，主要是长期记忆方面，这证实了关于高血压可能产生行为后果的假设。
