D-amphetamine facilitation of Morris water task performance is blocked by eticlopride and correlated with increased dopamine synthesis in the prefrontal cortex
Rw. Brown et al., D-amphetamine facilitation of Morris water task performance is blocked by eticlopride and correlated with increased dopamine synthesis in the prefrontal cortex, BEH BRA RES, 114(1-2), 2000, pp. 135-143
The effect of posttraining D-amphetamine on Morris water task (MWT) perform
ance was analyzed in this study by training rats using a single training tr
ial per day procedure. In addition to acquisition latency, learning was ass
essed by a probe trial given 24 h after the last training trial. Rats given
immediate post-trial D-amphetamine demonstrated improved performance over
saline rats on both acquisition and the probe trial. An analysis of the mec
hanisms underlying facilitation revealed that eticlopride (a D2 antagonist)
blocked D-amphetamine's facilitatory effects on the probe trial and dopami
ne synthesis was increased in the medial prefrontal cortex in the D-ampheta
mine group relative to controls. These results show that chronic administra
tion of posttraining D-amphetamine facilitated MWT performance, and this fa
cilitation may be mediated by the dopaminergic system and dopamine synthesi
s in the prefrontal cortex. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser
ved.