Learning capacity and memory of normal and Toxoplasma-infected laboratory rats and mice

Abstract

An experimental Toxoplasma-infection affects the learning performance and the memory of laboratory rats and mice. The investigations yielded the following results: 1. Maze experiments with rats showed that infection significantly reduces the learning performance of the infected animals. However, no significant differences were found between infected rats inoculated at varying times prior to training. In contrast to the learning capacity, memory does not seem to be impaired at all by infection. 2. Compared to rats, the learning capacity of mice is much more conspicuously retarded by a Toxoplasma-infection. In the memory test, the infected animals remained significantly below the performance level of the controls on all days, indicating that their memory was severely affected. 3. A significant correlation was established between the learning performance of the mice and the number of brain cysts. It is assumed that the cysts contribute to the impairment of learning ability. The fact that animals infected for a longer period usually show improved test performances further supports this assumption. This coincides with the decrease in brain cysts. Nevertheless, the clusters of necrosis developing together with the cysts in the nervous tissue might also cause learning retardation. 4. In mice, infection with an avirulent Toxoplasma-strain does not always take a wholly asymptomatic course. When observing the animals closely, a few of them could be seen to run in 'circles' with their heads bent to one side when moving and sitting, which might be interpreted as an impairment of the sense of balance. 5. Another effect of the Toxoplasma-infection in the animal species used is the significantly reduced activity observed on many days of training.