B. Setlow et Jl. Mcgaugh, SULPIRIDE INFUSED INTO THE NUCLEUS-ACCUMBENS POSTTRAINING IMPAIRS MEMORY OF SPATIAL WATER MAZE TRAINING, Behavioral neuroscience, 112(3), 1998, pp. 603-610
A variety of nucleus accumbens (NA) manipulations induce deficits in s
patial learning and memory tasks. It is not known, however, if these d
eficits reflect influences on memory or on other processes affecting p
erformance. The experiments in this article were undertaken to examine
the involvement of the NA in memory consolidation in a spatial task.
Rats were given 1 training session in a spatial water maze immediately
followed by intra-NA infusions of sulpiride or saline vehicle. A prob
e test 2 days later revealed an impairing effect of sulpiride on sever
al retention measures. Sulpiride infused into the NA either 2 hr postt
raining in the spatial task or immediately posttraining in a cued wate
r maze task did not affect retention performance. These findings sugge
st that the impairing effects of immediate posttraining sulpiride in t
he spatial task are due to interference with spatial water maze-specif
ic consolidation processes involving the NA.