Effects of reserpine on the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task: Dissociation between memory and motor impairments

• Published in: Brain research Vol. 1122; no. 1; pp. 179 - 183
• Main Authors: Carvalho, Rita C., Patti, Camilla C., Takatsu-Coleman, André L., Kameda, Sonia R., Souza, Claudio F., Garcez-do-Carmo, Lucia, Abílio, Vanessa C., Frussa-Filho, Roberto, Silva, Regina H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier B.V 29.11.2006; Amsterdam Elsevier; New York, NY
• Subjects: Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors - pharmacology; Analysis of Variance; Animal model; Animals; Avoidance Learning - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; Discrimination Learning - drug effects; Disease Models, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Male; Maze Learning - drug effects; Medical sciences; Memory; Memory Disorders - chemically induced; Memory Disorders - complications; Mice; Motor Activity - drug effects; Motor behavior; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Nervous system as a whole; Neurology; Neuropharmacology; Parkinson disease; Parkinsonian Disorders - chemically induced; Parkinsonian Disorders - complications; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Psycholeptics: tranquillizer, neuroleptic; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Reserpine - pharmacology; Parkinson disease; Animal model; Motor behavior; Memory; Memory disorder; Cognitive disorder; Psychotropic; Neuroleptic; Motor system disorder; Degenerative disease; Dissociation; Neurological disorder; Motricity; Reserpine; Nervous system diseases; Rodentia; Cerebral disorder; Chemotherapy; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Treatment; Mouse; Animal; Central nervous system disease; Body movement; Avoidance; Extrapyramidal syndrome
• ISSN: 0006-8993; 1872-6240
• DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2006.09.008

We investigated the effects of reserpine (0.1–0.5 mg/kg) on the performance of mice in the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task (DAVT), which simultaneously evaluates memory and motor activity. All doses induced memory impairment (increased aversive arm time) but only 0.5 mg/kg reserpine decreased locomotion (entries in enclosed arms). The results suggest that the DAVT evaluation in reserpine-treated mice can be a useful model for studying cognitive deficits accompanied by motor impairments.