ROLE OF THE INFERIOR OLIVARY COMPLEX IN MOTOR-SKILLS AND MOTOR LEARNING IN THE ADULT-RAT

The inferior olivary complex of adult rats was chemically destroyed us ing intraperitoneal injection of 3-acetylpyridine. Animals were submit ted to different motor tasks: hanging test, equilibrium test and motor co-ordination test. The different scores show that 3-acetylpyridine-t reated rats had motor co-ordination and static equilibrium deficiencie s, whereas their rod suspension capabilities were intact. Animals were also trained on an unrotated rod or on a rod rotating at 5, 10 or 20 r.p.m. 3-Acetylpyridine-treated rats were able to maintain their equil ibrium on the unrotated rod and al 5 r.p.m. Moreover, after motor trai ning at 5 r.p.m., rats were able to improve their motor skills and rea ched the same score as controls. Despite their good motor skills, anim als were unable to maintain their equilibrium when rotated at 10 and 2 0 r.p.m. These results suggest that the inferior olivary complex is ne eded for motor learning involving the temporal organization of movemen t. (C) 1997 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.