PYRITHIAMINE-INDUCED THIAMINE-DEFICIENCY IMPAIRS OBJECT RECOGNITION IN RATS

Pyrithiamine-induced thiamine deficiency (PTD) in rats is used to mode l the etiology, diencephalic neuropathology, and memory deficits of Ko rsakoffs amnesia. We assessed the performance of rats exposed to PTD o n a test of object recognition-nonrecurring-items delayed nonmatching- to-sample (DNMS). PTD produced thalamic lesions similar to those of Ko rsakoffs amnesics and similar to those previously observed in PTD rats . PTD rats required more trials to master DNMS at a 4-s retention dela y than did controls, and after they had done so, they performed more p oorly than controls at delays of 15, 30, 60, and 120 s. DNMS deficits were also observed in PTD rats that received training prior to PTD tre atment. These findings support the validity of the PTD rat model of Ko rsakoffs disease by demonstrating that PTD rats display object-recogni tion deficits that are similar to those reported in Korsakoff amnesics .