Abstract

RUIZ, Paul; CALLIARI, Aldo; GENOVESE, Patricia  and  PAUTASSI, Ricardo. Spatial memory, and hippocampal BDNF levels, decrease in adolescent reserpine depressed rats. Revista de Psicología [online]. 2021, vol.39, n.1, pp.35-57. ISSN 0254-9247.  http://dx.doi.org/10.18800/psico.202101.002.

Depression is associated with significant deficits in spatial memory. The present study assessed spatial memory in an animal model of depression. Wistar rats (n=28), males and females, were administered reserpine (0.0 or 1.0 mg/kg/every 2 days for 4 days). At termination of the treatment the rats were tested for motor function (bar test) and for anxiety response (elevated plus maze). The animals were then trained for a week (daily sessions of 5 min) in a multiple T-maze, which assesses spatial memory. The elevated plus maze test was then repeated and subsequently the animals were sacrificed and the hippocampus dissected to measure BDNF levels through a Western blot. In the bar test, the reserpine-treated rats exhibited similar grasping, yet reduced mobility, when compared to vehicle-treated peers. Reserpine-treated rats exhibited, in both elevated plus maze tests and when compared to control counterparts, significantly less time spent in the open arms, and significantly greater latency to enter, for the first time, in the closed arms. They also spent significantly more time to complete the multiple T-maze and made more performance errors than controls in this test, a profile that was associated with lower levels of BDNF at the hippocampus. These results suggest that reserpine induced a depression-like phenotype, without gross motor alterations, which was associated with spatial memory deficits.

Keywords : Spatial memory; BDNF; rats; reserpine.

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