Effect of cholinergic deafferentation of prefrontal cortex on working memory for familiar and novel odors
Year: 2009
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The role of acetylcholine in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in working memory was investigated in aged rats. Subjects with cholinergic lesions of the prelimbic portion of the mPFC (pACh-lx) or a sham lesion of the same region were trained on an odor delayed non-match to sample paradigm. The effects of prefrontal cholinergic depletion and aging were assessed in task variations that manipulated mnemonic demand and stimulus novelty. pACh-lx animals were impaired relative to sham-lx animals at memory for familiar stimuli over delays. This global impairment was not dependent on the length of the delay, suggesting that aged pACh-lx animals were impaired at a non-mnemonic component of the working memory task. Aged animals' accuracy was also impaired during sessions with novel sample stimuli, indicating a novel encoding impairment due to age-related cholinergic depletion in the entorhinal cortex.
Author: Emily A. Carter
Language: English
Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2281674070