Ak. Sesay et al., SPATIAL-LEARNING AND HIPPOCAMPAL LONG-TERM POTENTIATION ARE NOT IMPAIRED IN MDX-MICE, Neuroscience letters, 211(3), 1996, pp. 207-210
Moderate non-progressive cognitive impairment is a consistent feature
of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), although few central nervous sys
tem abnormalities have yet been identified. A model for DMD is provide
d by the mdx mouse which fails to produce full length dystrophin in mu
scle and brain. In this study we have compared performances in a hippo
campal-dependent spatial learning task, the Morris water maze, in mdx
mice and in age-matched normal (C57BL/10) mice. There was no differenc
e in acquisition rates or in retention between the two groups. We also
found no difference in the magnitude of long-term potentiation (LTP)
between the two groups, either in the dentate gyrus or in area CA1. Th
ese experiments demonstrate that neither spatial learning nor hippocam
pal synaptic plasticity are significantly affected by the lack of full
-length dystrophin.