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α7 Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and temporal memory: Synergistic effects of combining prenatal choline and nicotine on reinforcement-induced resetting of an interval clock
- Source :
- Learning & Memory. 13:127-134
- Publication Year :
- 2006
- Publisher :
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2006.
-
Abstract
- We previously showed that prenatal choline supplementation could increase the precision of timing and temporal memory and facilitate simultaneous temporal processing in mature and aged rats. In the present study, we investigated the ability of adult rats to selectively control the reinforcement-induced resetting of an internal clock as a function of prenatal drug treatments designed to affect the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to prenatal choline (CHO), nicotine (NIC), methyllycaconitine (MLA), choline + nicotine (CHO + NIC), choline + nicotine + methyllycaconitine (CHO + NIC + MLA), or a control treatment (CON). Beginning at 4-mo-of-age, rats were trained on a peak-interval timing procedure in which food was available at 10-, 30-, and 90-sec criterion durations. At steady-state performance there were no differences in timing accuracy, precision, or resetting among the CON, MLA, and CHO + NIC + MLA treatments. It was observed that the CHO and NIC treatments produced a small, but significant increase in timing precision, but no change in accuracy or resetting. In contrast, the CHO + NIC prenatal treatment produced a dramatic increase in timing precision and selective control of the resetting mechanism with no change in overall timing accuracy. The synergistic effect of combining prenatal CHO and NIC treatments suggests an organizational change in α7 nAChR function that is dependent upon a combination of selective and nonselective nAChR stimulation during early development.
- Subjects :
- Male
Nicotine
medicine.medical_specialty
Reinforcement Schedule
alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor
Aconitine
Cognitive Neuroscience
Cholinergic Agents
Stimulation
Receptors, Nicotinic
Choline
Developmental psychology
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
chemistry.chemical_compound
Biological Clocks
Memory
Pregnancy
Organizational change
Internal medicine
medicine
Animals
Reinforcement
Methyllycaconitine
Research
Drug Synergism
Rats
Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
Endocrinology
chemistry
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Time Perception
Cholinergic
Female
Reinforcement, Psychology
medicine.drug
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15495485 and 10720502
- Volume :
- 13
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Learning & Memory
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....fe8f81e5d6d6c811db7a9f541a1f52bf