Catecholamine Neurotransmission Systems on the Behavioral

• Main Authors: Lai, Wen-Sung, 賴文崧
• Other Authors: Liao Ruey-Ming
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1996
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/49562010652833009454

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 心理學系 === 84 === Catecholamine (CA) neurotransmission systems are critically involved in the control of many behavioral functions including learning and memory. The role of CA in mediating learning and memory is recently focused on the basis of multiple memory hypothesis. In addition to the previous finding of spatial memory relevant to the hippocampal areas, the striatum containing the caudate nucleus and the nucleus of accumbens is thought to be important for executing the learning and memory function. By the use of radial arm maze (RAM), the present study examined the effects of CA related neurotoxins and drugs on the acquisition and retention stages of both place and response tasks. Two major parts of experiments were designed to reveal the neurobehavioral mechanisms for the place and response tasks of RAM. Food-deprivated rats were trained to enter the arms baited with chocolate in the eight-arm maze. Specific four arms were baited for each rat in the place task, while randomly selected four arms each cued with a piece of sand paper on the arm entrance were baited for the rat in the response task.The results can be summarized as followings. (1) Differen behavioral processes were shown in performing the place and response tasks. (2) The acquisition deficits were significantly produced by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesion on either caudate or accumbens for the place task, whereas the acquisition of response task was only impaired by 6-OHDA lesions of both caudate and accumbens together. (3) In contrast to 6-OHDA, adrenergic neurotoxin DSP-4 did not significantly affect subjects to acquire either task. (4) During the retention stage, the performance of place task was significantly disrupted by d-amphetamine, haloperidol, or propranolol. However, this was not the case for the retrieval of response task. (5) Once acquired, neither place nor response task performamce could be influenced by 6-OHDA simultaneously administered on the caudate and accumbens areas.Taken together, these data collected from RAM support the idea that the striatal CA is essential for the leraning and memory. Shift of the CA neurotransmission function induced by either 6-OHDA lesions or relevant drugs can disrupt the RAM behavior, which impairment to be detectable is depended on the learning task itself as well as the time of a specific task being leraned.