Normalization of spatial learning despite brain damage in rats receiving ketamine after seizure-induction: Evidence for the neuromatrix

The concept of the neuromatrix assumes that all behaviours are associated w ith complex spatiotemporal electromagnetic fields within the brain. The sam e complex magnetic field can be supported potentially by different mosaics of neuronal associations and result in the same behaviours. In the present study the accuracy of long-term and short-term spatial memory for rats that had been treated with 100 mg/kg of ketamine immediately after the inductio n of seizures by lithium and pilocarpine did not differ from normal rats de spite the conspicuous multifocal neuronal loss. A 30-min. delay of treatmen t with ketamine resulted in significant memory impairment. Whereas deficits in short-term memory were significantly correlated with cell loss within t he CA field of the hippocampus, deficits in long-term memory were related t o cell loss within specific thalamic-amygdaloid structures. Implications fo r the concept of the neuromatrix, if valid, are discussed.