Buynack, Lauren and Willner, Jeffrey EFFECTS OF BDNF ANTAGONIST ANA-12 ON RATS’ USE OF SPATIAL LEARNING STRATEGIES. 2020. Radford University, Thesis. Radford University Scholars' Repository.
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Abstract
Prior research has implicated brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) in synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus and in forms of spatial learning and memory that depend on this brain system. Much of this evidence has been indirect, however, and relatively few behavioral studies have directly manipulated BDNF or the receptor that binds it, tropomyosin receptor kinase B (Trk B). The present study examined the role of BDNF in spatial learning by investigating the effects of ANA-12, a noncompetitive antagonist for the Trk B receptor, on spatial learning in a T-maze. Rats received 0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg ANA-12 or saline four hours before training on a T-maze task that could be solved using either a hippocampal-dependent place strategy or a striatum-dependent response strategy. After reaching criterion, the rats received a probe trial in which the two strategies were pitted against one another. Administration of ANA-12 did not impair rats’ ability to learn or perform the T-maze task, but it did cause dose-dependent decreases in their use of place strategies on the probe trial. These results support the idea that BDNF and the Trk B receptor play an important role in spatial learning and memory.
| Item Type: | Thesis |
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| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
| Divisions: | Radford University > College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences > Department of Psychology |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Sep 2021 17:20 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Apr 2023 12:53 |
| URI: | http://wagner.radford.edu/id/eprint/628 |
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