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Blockade of muscarinic receptors impairs the retrieval of well-trained memory.

ABSTRACT: Acetylcholine (ACh) is known to play an important role in memory functions, and its deficit has been proposed to cause the cognitive decline associated with advanced age and Alzheimer's disease (the cholinergic hypothesis). Although many studies have tested the cholinergic hypothesis for recently acquired memory, only a few have investigated the role of ACh in the retrieval process of well-trained cognitive memory, which describes the memory established from repetition and daily routine. To examine this point, we trained rats to perform a two-alternative forced-choice visual detection task. Each trial was started by having the rats pull upward a central-lever, which triggered the presentation of a visual stimulus to the right or left side of the display monitor, and then pulling upward a stimulus-relevant choice-lever located on both sides. Rats learned the task within 10 days, and the task training was continued for a month. Task performance was measured with or without systemic administration of a muscarinic ACh receptor (mAChR) antagonist, scopolamine (SCOP), prior to the test. After 30 min of SCOP administration, rats stopped manipulating any lever even though they explored the lever and surrounding environment, suggesting a loss of the task-related associative memory. Three hours later, rats were recovered to complete the trial, but the rats selected the levers irrespective of the visual stimulus, suggesting they remembered a series of lever-manipulations in association with a reward, but not association between the reward and visual stimulation. Furthermore, an m1-AChR, but not nicotinic AChR antagonist caused a similar deficit in the task execution. SCOP neither interfered with locomotor activity nor drinking behavior, while it influenced anxiety. These results suggest that the activation of mAChRs at basal ACh levels is essential for the recall of well-trained cognitive memory.

SUBMITTER: Soma S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3986532 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Blockade of muscarinic receptors impairs the retrieval of well-trained memory.

Soma Shogo S Suematsu Naofumi N Shimegi Satoshi S

Frontiers in aging neuroscience 20140408

Acetylcholine (ACh) is known to play an important role in memory functions, and its deficit has been proposed to cause the cognitive decline associated with advanced age and Alzheimer's disease (the cholinergic hypothesis). Although many studies have tested the cholinergic hypothesis for recently acquired memory, only a few have investigated the role of ACh in the retrieval process of well-trained cognitive memory, which describes the memory established from repetition and daily routine. To exam ...[more]

PMID: 24782760

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Project description:Stressful life events induce abnormalities in emotional and cognitive behaviour. The endogenous opioid system plays an essential role in stress adaptation and coping strategies. In particular, the µ-opioid receptor (?R), one of the major opioid receptors, strongly influences memory processing in that alterations in ?R signalling are associated with various neuropsychiatric disorders. However, it remains unclear whether ?R signalling contributes to memory impairments induced by acute stress. Here, we utilized pharmacological methods and cell-type-selective/non-cell-type-selective ?R depletion approaches combined with behavioural tests, biochemical analyses, and in vitro electrophysiological recordings to investigate the role of hippocampal ?R signalling in memory-retrieval impairment induced by acute elevated platform (EP) stress in mice. Biochemical and molecular analyses revealed that hippocampal ?Rs were significantly activated during acute stress. Blockage of hippocampal ?Rs, non-selective deletion of ?Rs or selective deletion of ?Rs on GABAergic neurons (?RGABA) reversed EP-stress-induced impairment of memory retrieval, with no effect on the elevation of serum corticosterone after stress. Electrophysiological results demonstrated that stress depressed hippocampal GABAergic synaptic transmission to CA1 pyramidal neurons, thereby leading to excitation/inhibition (E/I) imbalance in a ?RGABA-dependent manner. Pharmaceutically enhancing hippocampal GABAA receptor-mediated inhibitory currents in stressed mice restored their memory retrieval, whereas inhibiting those currents in the unstressed mice mimicked the stress-induced impairment of memory retrieval. Our findings reveal a novel pathway in which endogenous opioids recruited by acute stress predominantly activate ?RGABA to depress GABAergic inhibitory effects on CA1 pyramidal neurons, which subsequently alters the E/I balance in the hippocampus and results in impairment of memory retrieval.

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Blockade of muscarinic receptors impairs the retrieval of well-trained memory.

Publications

Blockade of muscarinic receptors impairs the retrieval of well-trained memory.

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