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. 2009:2009:919276.
doi: 10.1155/2009/919276. Epub 2010 Jan 4.

Forepaw sensorimotor deprivation in early life leads to the impairments on spatial memory and synaptic plasticity in rats

Yuanyuan Zhang  1 , Fei Li, Xiaohua Cao, Xingming Jin, Chonghuai Yan, Ying Tian, Xiaoming Shen
Affiliations

Forepaw sensorimotor deprivation in early life leads to the impairments on spatial memory and synaptic plasticity in rats

Yuanyuan Zhang et al. J Biomed Biotechnol. 2009.

Abstract

To investigate the influence of forepaw sensorimotor deprivation on memory and synaptic plasticity, Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups: a sham-operated group and a group deprived of forepaw sensorimotor function by microsurgical operation at postnatal day 13 (PN13). Behavioral and electrophysiological studies were performed at PN25, PN35, PN45, and PN60. Open field test was used to assess the spontaneous locomotor activity. Morris water maze was used to evaluate spatial reference learning and memory. The long-term potentiation (LTP) in the medial perforant path--dentate gyrus (MPP-DG) pathway was examined with hippocampal slices. We found that forepaw sensorimotor deprivation did not affect spontaneous activity of the rats. However, spatial reference learning and memory were significantly impaired in their early life (PN25, PN35, and PN45). In accordance with the behavior results, LTP in MPP-DG pathway was significantly suppressed in their early life. These data demonstrated that forepaw sensorimotor deprivation led to the impairments on spatial memory via inducing pronounced deficits in the MPP-DG pathway to exhibit LTP, one of the major cellular mechanisms underlying learning and memory.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Open field test performance in forepaw sensorimotor deprived group (treatment) and sham-operated control group (control). Forepaw sensorimotor deprivation did not affect spontaneous locomotor activity of the rats at PN25, PN35, PN45, and PN60 (P > .05). The Three indices (a) FP_moves, (b) FP_move time, and (c) FP_distance were shown as above.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Morris water maze performance in forepaw sensorimotor deprived group (treatment) and sham-operated control group (control) at indicated age. (a) Escape latency for PN25 during training sessions, (b) PN35, (c) PN45, (d) PN60, (e) Swimming speed, and (f) The time spent in searching the targeted quadrant in the probe test for all groups. Data are presented as means ± S.E.M. *Indicates a significant difference between groups for a given age (P < .05). Number of rats (n) is indicated in the figure.
Figure 3
Figure 3
LTP induction in the medial perforant path—dentate gyrus (MPP-DG) pathway in sensorimotor deprived group (treatment) and sham-operated control group (control) at indicated age. (a) PN25, (b) PN35, (c) PN45, (d) PN60. Arrow indicates the time point when conditioning stimulation was administered. Numbers of rats (N) and slices (n) are indicated in all figures. (e) Summary of LTP induction at PN25, PN35, PN45, and PN60. **Indicates a highly significant between group difference for a given age (P < .01).
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