The medial prefrontal cortex and memory of cue location in the rat

Rawson, Timothy M; O’Kane, Michael; Talk, Andrew C.

doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2009.09.003

“…We have previously used these behavioral procedures to show that subjects with lesions to the medial prefrontal cortex are deficient at spatial sensory preconditioning [25]. Here, we have analyzed the video recordings collected during that study to assess whether those subjects were also deficient at cue-directed orientation during the preconditioning phase.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We also analyzed archived video recordings of the sensory preconditioning session of an experiment conducted by Rawson et al [25] to determine head orientation to the cue of subjects with a lesion to the mPFC. In that study, we infused 0.07 M quinolinic acid in phosphate-buffered saline into two sites on each side of the frontal cortex.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These sites were 3.5 mm anterior and 0.6 mm lateral to bregma, then 5.2 mm ventral to dura, and 2.5 mm anterior and 0.6 mm lateral to bregma, then 5.0 mm ventral to dura. The experiment conducted by Rawson et al [25] used the same behavioral procedures as the current study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We have demonstrated that lesion of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) impairs performance in this spatial sensory preconditioning task [24,25]. Here, we assessed any role for the dorsal hippocampus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Preconditioning of Spatial and Auditory Cues: Roles of the Hippocampus, Frontal Cortex, and Cue-Directed Attention

Talk

¹

,

Grasby

²

,

Rawson

³

et al. 2016

Self Cite

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Loss of function of the hippocampus or frontal cortex is associated with reduced performance on memory tasks, in which subjects are incidentally exposed to cues at specific places in the environment and are subsequently asked to recollect the location at which the cue was experienced. Here, we examined the roles of the rodent hippocampus and frontal cortex in cue-directed attention during encoding of memory for the location of a single incidentally experienced cue. During a spatial sensory preconditioning task, rats explored an elevated platform while an auditory cue was incidentally presented at one corner. The opposite corner acted as an unpaired control location. The rats demonstrated recollection of location by avoiding the paired corner after the auditory cue was in turn paired with shock. Damage to either the dorsal hippocampus or the frontal cortex impaired this memory ability. However, we also found that hippocampal lesions enhanced attention directed towards the cue during the encoding phase, while frontal cortical lesions reduced cue-directed attention. These results suggest that the deficit in spatial sensory preconditioning caused by frontal cortical damage may be mediated by inattention to the location of cues during the latent encoding phase, while deficits following hippocampal damage must be related to other mechanisms such as generation of neural plasticity.

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“…If the subject was grooming, or the head angle was otherwise not visible, then that was indicated by the user, and data from those frames was not used for generation of the averaged head orientation. We also analyzed archived video recordings of the sensory preconditioning session of an experiment conducted by Rawson et al [25] to determine head orientation to the cue of subjects with a lesion to the mPFC. In that study, we infused 0.07 M quinolinic acid in phosphate-buffered saline into two sites on each side of the frontal cortex.…”

Section: Hippocampal Lesionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preconditioning of Spatial and Auditory Cues: Roles of the Hippocampus, Frontal Cortex, and Cue-directed Attention

Talk

¹

,

Grasby

²

,

Rawson

³

et al. 2016

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Loss of function of the hippocampus or frontal cortex is associated with reduced performance on memory tasks, in which subjects are incidentally exposed to cues at specific places in the environment and are subsequently asked to recollect the location at which the cue was experienced. Here, we examined the roles of the rodent hippocampus and frontal cortex in cue-directed attention during encoding of memory for the location of a single incidentally experienced cue. During a spatial sensory preconditioning task, rats explored an elevated platform while an auditory cue was incidentally presented at one corner. The opposite corner acted as an unpaired control location. The rats demonstrated recollection of location by avoiding the paired corner after the auditory cue was in turn paired with shock. Damage to either the dorsal hippocampus or the frontal cortex impaired this memory ability. However, we also found that hippocampal lesions enhanced attention directed towards the cue during the encoding phase, while frontal cortical lesions reduced cue-directed attention. These results suggest that the deficit in spatial sensory preconditioning caused by frontal cortical damage may be mediated by inattention to the location of cues during the latent encoding phase, while deficits following hippocampal damage must be related to other mechanisms such as generation of neural plasticity.

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6-Hydroxydopamine-Induced Dopamine Reductions in the Nucleus Accumbens, but not the Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Impair Cincinnati Water Maze Egocentric and Morris Water Maze Allocentric Navigation in Male Sprague–Dawley Rats

Braun

¹

,

Amos‐Kroohs

²

,

Gutierrez

³

et al. 2016

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The nucleus accumbens (Nacc) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) receive dopaminergic innervation from the ventral tegmental area and are involved in learning. Male rats with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced dopaminergic and noradrenergic reductions in the Nacc or mPFC were tested for allocentric and egocentric learning to determine their role in these forms of neuroplasticity. mPFC dopaminergic and noradrenergic reductions did not result in changes to either type of learning or memory. Nacc dopaminergic and noradrenergic reductions resulted in allocentric learning and memory deficits in the Morris water maze (MWM) on acquisition, reversal, and probe trials. MWM cued performance was also affected, but straight-channel swim times and swim speed during hidden platform trials in the MWM were not affected. Nacc dopaminergic and noradrenergic reductions also impaired egocentric learning in the Cincinnati water maze (CWM). Nacc-lesioned animals tested in the CWM in an alternate path through the maze were not significantly affected. 6-OHDA injections in the Nacc resulted in 63 % dopamine and 62 % norepinephrine reductions in the Nacc and 23 % reductions in adjacent dorsal striatum. 6-OHDA injections in the mPFC resulted in 88 % reductions in dopamine and 59 % reductions in norepinephrine. Hence, Nacc dopamine and/or norepinephrine play a role in egocentric and allocentric learning and memory, while mPFC dopamine and norepinephrine do not.

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The medial prefrontal cortex and memory of cue location in the rat

Cited by 8 publications

References 38 publications

Preconditioning of Spatial and Auditory Cues: Roles of the Hippocampus, Frontal Cortex, and Cue-Directed Attention

Preconditioning of Spatial and Auditory Cues: Roles of the Hippocampus, Frontal Cortex, and Cue-Directed Attention

Preconditioning of Spatial and Auditory Cues: Roles of the Hippocampus, Frontal Cortex, and Cue-directed Attention

6-Hydroxydopamine-Induced Dopamine Reductions in the Nucleus Accumbens, but not the Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Impair Cincinnati Water Maze Egocentric and Morris Water Maze Allocentric Navigation in Male Sprague–Dawley Rats

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