Behavioral effects of basal forebrain cholinergic lesions in young adult and aging rats

Behav Neurosci. 2005 Aug;119(4):933-45. doi: 10.1037/0735-7044.119.4.933.

Abstract

The interactive effects of age and cholinergic damage were assessed behaviorally in young and middle-aged rats. Rats were lesioned at either 3 or 17 months of age by injection of 192 IgG-saporin immunotoxin into the medial septum and the nucleus basalis magnocellularis, and they were then tested on a range of behavioral tasks: a nonmatching-to-position task in a T-maze, an object-recognition task, an object-location task, and an open-field activity test. Depending on the task used, only an age or a lesion effect was observed, but there was no Age X Lesion interaction. Middle-aged and young rats responded to the cholinergic lesions in the same manner. These results show that in the middle-aged rats in which cholinergic transmission was affected, additional injury to the system was not always accompanied by major cognitive dysfunctions.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Acetylcholine / metabolism*
  • Aging / physiology*
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / toxicity
  • Basal Nucleus of Meynert / injuries
  • Basal Nucleus of Meynert / physiopathology*
  • Behavior, Animal / drug effects
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology*
  • Body Weight / drug effects
  • Body Weight / physiology
  • Choline O-Acetyltransferase / metabolism
  • Exploratory Behavior / drug effects
  • Exploratory Behavior / physiology
  • Immunohistochemistry / methods
  • Immunotoxins / toxicity
  • Male
  • Maze Learning / drug effects
  • Motor Activity / drug effects
  • N-Glycosyl Hydrolases
  • Rats
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Recognition, Psychology / drug effects
  • Retention, Psychology / drug effects
  • Retention, Psychology / physiology
  • Ribosome Inactivating Proteins, Type 1
  • Saporins
  • Septal Nuclei / injuries
  • Septal Nuclei / physiopathology*
  • Spatial Behavior / drug effects
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • 192 IgG-saporin
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Immunotoxins
  • Ribosome Inactivating Proteins, Type 1
  • Choline O-Acetyltransferase
  • N-Glycosyl Hydrolases
  • Saporins
  • Acetylcholine