NOREPINEPHRINE MODULATION OF SOCIAL MEMORY - EVIDENCE FOR A TIME-DEPENDENT FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY OF BEHAVIOR

We tested the hypothesis that central nervous system (CNS) norepinephr ine (NE) modulates the ability of an adult male rat to remember signif icant novel stimuli. Behavioral tests evaluated NE effects on general exploration and social memory. Results were that neither depletion nor elevation of NE impaired general exploration. Findings from the socia l memory setting suggested that animals tested 2 weeks after NE deplet ion were unable to discriminate novel from familiar juveniles in situa tions where untreated controls had no difficulty. Elevation of CNS NE, conversely, produced improved discrimination performance compared wit h control animals. Results suggest that activation of the CNS NE syste m is involved in the memory for novel stimuli. Performance of the NE-d epleted group tested 3 months after treatment indicates a time-depende nt functional recovery can occur in the presence of virtually total CN S NE depletion.