Introdução: O etilismo é uma doença crônica e progressiva que tem um impacto significante nos valores sociais e econômicos da sociedade. A interrupção abrupta do consumo crônico de etanol pode levar à Síndrome de Abstinência alcoólica (SAA) com repercussões na saúde do indivíduo. Atualmente, muita atenção também tem sido dada ao consumo espaçado de etanol em doses elevadas, caracterizado como binge. Dentre as várias consequências do consumo agudo e/ou crônico do etanol, podem-se destacar os déficits em teste de aprendizagem e de memória. Objetivos: verificar se a abstinência ao etanol após o consumo involuntário ou semivoluntário de etanol (crônico ou agudo) é capaz de interferir na aprendizagem, na memória e na ansiedade de ratos adultos. Materiais e Métodos: Foram utilizados 196 ratos albinos, Wistar e machos, com 21 dias de vida. Inicialmente os animais foram divididos em dois grandes grupos para compor o Estudo 1 ou o estudo 2. No estudo 1 a via de administração foi semivoluntária (etanol a 6%) e no estudo 2 foi involuntária (por gavagem intragástrica- 1g etanol/kg). Em ambos os estudos os animais foram divididos novamente em relação ao tipo de bebida que receberiam (água ou etanol) e tempo de consumo (agudo- 2 horas ou crônico- 21 dias, sendo que no estudo 2 a ingestão etílica aconteceu a cada 3 dias). No 23º dia (após 48 horas da última ingestão etílica) os animais foram testados no Teste de Memória de Reconhecimento (TMR), no Labirinto em Cruz Elevado (LCE) e no Labirinto Aquático de Morris (LAM) por dois dias consecutivos e retestados após 28 dias. Resultados: No estudo 1 os resultados indicaram que a abstinência ao etanol após o consumo agudo ou crônico de etanol não foi capaz de alterar a aprendizagem e a memória espacial no LAM, porém prejuízos na memória espacial de longo prazo foram observados nos animais submetidos ao consumo agudo de etanol. Não foram observadas alterações na Memória de Reconhecimento na Sessão treino e na Memória de Reconhecimento de Curto Prazo, porém a exposição aguda ao etanol foi capaz de gerar prejuízos na memória de Reconhecimento de Longo Prazo. Não houve diferenças nos níveis de ansiedade dos animais do estudo. Em relação ao estudo 2, foi possível observar que a abstinência do etanol após o consumo agudo foi capaz de gerar um prejuízo na memória espacial de curto prazo e que o consumo crônico e agudo de etanol não foram capaz de prejudicar a Memória de Reconhecimento dos animais estudados. Ainda que, os animais expostos ao consumo agudo e crônico de etanol, em abstinência ao etanol de 48 horas apresentaram níveis de ansiedade elevados. Conclusão: O etanol influencia de forma diferente a memória espacial, a memória de reconhecimento e os níveis de ansiedade a depender da via de administração (e, portanto da quantidade de etanol ingerida) e do tempo de consumo. / Introduction: Alcoholism is a chronic and progressive disease that has a significant impact on social and economic values of society. Abrupt withdrawal of chronic ethanol consumption can lead to alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) which impacts on the health of the individual. Currently, much attention has also been attributed to the spaced ethanol consumption in high doses, characterized as \"binge\". Among the many consequences of acute and/or chronic consumption ethanol, can highlight the deficits in learning and memory test. Objectives: verify if abstinence to ethanol after the involuntary consumption of ethanol or semi-voluntary (chronic or acute) can interfere in the learning, memory and anxiety in adult rats Materials and Methods: were used 196 albino rats Wistar and males, with 21 days of life. Initially, the animals were divided into two groups to compose the study 1 or 2. In study 1 the administration route was semi voluntary (6% ethanol) and in Study 2 was involuntary (by gavage intragástrica- ethanol 1g / kg). In both studies, the animals were divided again in relation to the type of beverage that receive (water or ethanol) and time consumption (acute- 2 hours or chronic for 21 days, whereas in Study 2 the alcohol consumption occurred every 3 days). On the 23rd days (48 hours after the last alcohol consumption) the animals were tested in Recognition Memory Test (RMT), the Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) and Morris Water Maze (MAM) for two consecutive days (and retested after 28 days). Results: In study 1 the results indicated that abstinence to ethanol after acute or chronic ethanol consumption was not able to alter the learning and spatial memory in LAM, but damage on long-term spatial memory were observed in animals submitted to consumption acute ethanol. No changes were observed in recognition memory in Session training and Short-term recognition memory, but the acute ethanol exposure was able to generate damages on long-term recognition memory. There were no differences in anxiety levels of study animals. Regarding the study 2, we observed that abstinence after acute ethanol consumption was able to generate damage in spatial memory short term and that chronic and acute consumption of ethanol were not able to alter the Recognition Memory of animals studied. Although, animals exposed to acute and chronic ethanol consumption in abstinence to 48 hours ethanol showed elevated levels of anxiety. Conclusion: Ethanol affects differently the spatial memory, recognition memory and anxiety levels depending on the route of administration (and therefore the amount of intake of ethanol) and of the time consumption.

La CREB Binding Protein (CBP) a une activité lysine acétyltransférase intrinsèque et fonctionne aussi comme un co-activateur transcriptionnel. L'activité acétyltransférase et la fonction de coactivateur transcriptionel sont toutes deux essentielles pour la formation de mémoire à long terme. De plus, la dérégulation de CBP a été observée dans des maladies neurodégénératives comme la maladie d'Alzheimer et la maladie de Huntington. L'objectif de ma thèse était d'étudier le rôle de la CBP et de son activation pharmacologique dans le cadre de la formation de la mémoire spatiale, une forme de mémoire qui est démantelé très tôt dans la MA. Les données obtenues à partir de ma thèse montrent que l'activation de la fonction acétyltransférase CBP par l’activateur CSP-TTK21 améliore les processus mnésiques chez des souris adultes normales et aussi dans un modèle murin de MA (THY-Tau22). Ainsi, la stratégie d’activation pharmacologique de l'activité acétyltransférase de CBP a un énorme potentiel pour une utilisation en tant qu'agent thérapeutique pour le traitement des maladies liées à l'altération de la mémoire tel que la maladie d'Alzheimer. / CREB Binding Protein (CBP) has an intrinsic lysine acetyltransferase activity and alsofunctions as a transcriptional co-activator. Both the acetyltransferase activity and the transcriptional co-activator function are critical for long-term memory formation. Importantly, CBP dysregulation has been observed in neurodegenerative conditions like in Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease. The focus of my thesis was to study the role of CBP and its activation by a new pharmacological tool, in the context of spatial memory formation, a form of memory that is very early dismantled in AD. Data obtained from my thesis clearly suggests that activation of CBP acetyltransferase function by small molecule activator CSP-TTK21 can improve memory related processes in healthy adult mice and also in a mouse model of AD, (THY-Tau22). Therefore, the strategy of pharmacological activation of CBP acetyltransferase activity has tremendous potential for use as therapeutics for the treatment of diseases related to memory impairment such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Anthropogenic environmental changes are occurring globally and are having dramatic effects on wildlife. Successful urban animals can alter behaviours to adjust to these conditions, but it is not well understood how these modifications arise. In particular, exploratory personality and behavioural plasticity are predicted to facilitate colonization in urban areas. The link between exploratory personality, cognition, and plasticity has received little attention, and has never been examined in urban animals. The first objective of this thesis was to examine the relationship between exploratory personality and habituation in a novel environment, and determine whether variation at the individual-level is predicted by urbanization. The second objective was to explore the association between exploratory personality and spatial cognition within scatter hoarders, and assess spatial memory along an urban gradient. At the individual-level, I report significant inter-individual differences in exploratory personality and habituation. I found evidence that fast initial explorers tend to habituate in a novel environment over time while slow explorers do not. There was no significant relationship between exploratory personality and spatial cognition within individuals. At the population level, urbanization did not significantly predict habituation or spatial cognition. I do report a significant positive relationship between urbanization and exploration. Overall, I conclude that urban individuals are significantly faster explorers, but are not more behaviourally plastic and do not show differences in spatial memory. Further work examining personality, cognition, and plasticity within individuals is needed to determine whether these traits have implications for populations under different environmental conditions.

Orientador: Francesco Langone / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T20:21:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pelagio_FernandaCampos_M.pdf: 2325912 bytes, checksum: b882bbc6cb8bd3261f16270af154e45f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: A atividade física contribui positivamente para a plasticidade cerebral facilitando processos neuroadaptativos e neuroprotetores. Diversos estudos relatam os efeitos positivos da prática de atividade física sobre os processos de aprendizado e memória. Indução de status epilepticus (SE) por pilocarpina provoca lesão na formação hipocampal e distúrbios de memória. O óxido nítrico (NO) tem participação nos processos neurais de aprendizado e memória. Recentemente, evidências apontam para uma provável participação do NO nos mecanismos intracelulares de pró-sobrevivência ativados pela atividade física. Por outro lado, diversos estudos sugerem um possível envolvimento do NO na fisiopatologia da epilepsia. Entretanto, estes estudos são controversos e não esclarecem o papel do NO nas crises epiléticas. Assim, o presente trabalho investigou a participação do óxido nítrico no modelo experimental de epilepsia induzida por pilocarpina e sua relação com o efeito da atividade física voluntária sobre a memória espacial. Camundongos Swiss adultos foram submetidos à indução SE por pilocarpina (P) e então sacrificados: 1 dia (1d), 7 dias (7d), 21 dias (21d) e 35 dias (35d) após SE. Os animais controles (Ct) foram tratados com salina e sacrificados nos mesmos tempos. Os animais anestesiados e em seguida sacrificados 35d após SE foram denominados: controle corredor (CtC), pilo corredor (PC), controle sedentário (CtS) e pilo sedentário (PS). Dois dias após SE, os animais do grupo PC e CtC tiveram acesso livre à roda de corrida durante 28 dias. Após este período, os animais dos grupos CtS, CtR, PS e PR foram testados no labirinto aquático (LA) para avaliação da memória de referência espacial. Quatro animais dos grupos CtS, CtC, PS e PC foram perfundidos com paraformaldeído e os cérebros removidos e processados histologicamente. Cortes frontais do cérebro (5µm) foram obtidos para avaliar a lesão tecidual (coloração de Nissl) e analisar a distribuição dos neurônios nitrérgicos (nNOS) na formação hipocampal dorsal. Outros cinco animais de cada grupo foram decapitados, o hipocampo rapidamente dissecado e congelado em nitrogênio líquido. Homogenato de hipocampo foi utilizado para a avaliação da atividade da NOS dependentes (dNOS) e independente de Ca2+ (iNOS), pela técnica da [3H]-L-Arginina e para a análise da expressão protéica da nNOS por Western blotting. Os animais dos grupos PS e PC apresentaram lesão neuronal e neurodegeneração que não diferiram entre sedentários e corredores. Os animais do grupo PC apresentaram desempenho no teste do LA superior ao registrado no PS e similar ao registrado nos CtS e CtC. Os grupos que sofreram indução de SE apresentaram redução da atividade da dNOS 1 dia após SE que se acentuou com o tempo. A expressão da nNOS reduziu 1 e 7 dias após o SE quando comparado ao grupo controle. A atividade da iNOS não se alterou 1 dia e 7 dias após SE, mas exibiu significativo aumento no grupo P21d quando comparado com respectivo controle. A atividade da dNOS nos grupos PS e PC não diferiram e foram inferiores às observadas nos CtS e CtC. A expressão da nNOS não diferiu entre os grupos CtS, CtC, PS e PC, contudo o grupo PC apresentou uma tendência à redução da expressão da nNOS. Por fim, nossos resultados mostraram que os efeitos positivos da atividade física sobre a memória dos animais PC resultou da ativação de mecanismos moleculares talvez não diretamente mediados por NO. Além disso, nossos dados confirmam a importante participação do NO nos mecanismos fisiopatológicos da epilepsia e mostraram que as isoformas da NOS responsáveis pela sua produção são diferentemente afetadas pelo SE / Abstract: Physical activity contributes to brain plasticity, facilitating neuroadaptive and neuroprotective processes. Many studies show the positive effects of physical activitypractice in process of learning and memory. Pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus (SE) causes injury in hippocampal formation and disturbance in memory. Nitric oxide (NO) participates in neural processes of learning and memory. Recently, evidences showed a probable involvement of NO in pro-survival intracellular mechanisms activated by physical activity. On the other hand, several studies have suggested a possible role of NO in epilepsy pathophysiology. However, these studies have produced controversial results and do not explain the role of NO in epileptic seizures. Therefore, the present work investigated NO participation in experimental model of epilepsy induced by pilocarpine in mice and its relationship with voluntary physical activity effects on spatial memory. Swiss adult mice were submitted to pilocarpine-induced SE (P) and sacrificed after 1day (1d), 7 days (7d), 21 days (21d) or 35 days (35d). Control animals (Ct) were treated with saline and sacrificed in the same time point. The animals sacrificed 35d after SE were named as control runner (CtR), pilo runner (PR), control sedentary (CtS) and pilo sedentary (PS). Two days after SE, the animals of PR and CtR group had access to a running wheel for 28 days. After that, CtS, CtR, PS and PR group¿s animals were tested in water maze (WM) for the referential spatial memory evaluation. Four animals of CtS, CtR, PS and PR groups were perfused with paraformaldehyde and their brains were removed and processed for paraffin embedding. Frontal sections of brains (5µm) were obtained for analysis of tissue damage (Nissl staining) and nitrergic neurons distribution (nNOS) in dorsal hippocampal formation. Moreover, hippocampus from five animals of each group were rapidly dissected and frozen in liquid nitrogen. Homogenates of hippocampus were used to evaluate the activity of calcium-dependent (dNOS) and calcium-independent (iNOS) NOS isoforms by [3H]-Larginine 's technique and the neuronal NOS (nNOS) expression by Western blotting. Animals of PS and PR groups showed neuronal damage and neurodegeneration that did not differ between sedentaries and runners. In WM test, animals of PR group had better performance than PS and similar performance to the registered in CtS and CtR. Pilo's group showed a reduction of dNOS activity 1 day after SE, this reduction increased along the time. Moreover, nNOS expression reduced 1 day and to 7 days after SE when compared to control groups. iNOS activity did not change at 1 day and 7 days after SE, but it increased in P21d group when compared with respective control group. dNOS activity results were similar between PS e PR groups and these were lower than CtS and CtR. nNOS expression was similar in the CtS, CtR, PS and PR groups. However, PR group showed a shift to reduction of nNOS expression. Finally, our data showed that positive effects of physical activity on memory in PR group resulted from molecular mechanisms activation that maybe are not directly mediated by NO. Moreover, our work confirm the important of NO participation in epilepsy pathophysiological mechanisms and also showed that NOS isoforms responsible for NO production are differently affected by SE / Mestrado / Fisiologia / Doutor em Biologia Funcional e Molecular

La neurogenèse hippocampique adulte fait référence à la création de neurones durant la vie adulte dans le gyrus denté de l’hippocampe. Une décennie de recherche a démontré l’importance de cette neurogenèse chez l’adulte dans les processus de mémoire. En particulier, la neurogenèse adulte est nécessaire à l’apprentissage spatial et l’apprentissage spatial lui-même augmente la survie et accélère le développement d’une population de nouveaux neurones immatures. Cependant, l’implication de ces nouveaux neurones « sélectionnés » par l’apprentissage dans le devenir de la mémoire reste incertaine. En conséquence, le travail de cette thèse porte sur l’étude du rôle de ces nouveaux neurones dans les processus de mémoire spatiale à long terme résultants de l’apprentissage d’origine, comme la restitution et la reconsolidation de la mémoire. En effet depuis plus d’un siècle, on sait qu’un apprentissage n’induit pas immédiatement une mémoire stable. Les souvenirs sont tout d’abord fragiles, puis vont au fil du temps devenir stables et insensibles aux perturbations via un processus appelé «consolidation de la mémoire». Cependant ce processus n’est pas immuable ; les souvenirs établis peuvent à nouveau devenir labiles lorsqu'ils sont rappelés ou réactivés lors d’une restitution de la mémoire. Cette déstabilisation d’une mémoire consolidée nécessite alors un nouveau processus de stabilisation appelé « reconsolidation de la mémoire ». Depuis sa découverte, la reconsolidation a vivement intéressé le milieu de la recherche sur la mémoire et un nombre croissant d’études a cherché à comprendre les mécanismes sous-tendant cette reconsolidation, en particulier dans l'hippocampe. Étonnamment, le processus de reconsolidation n’a été que très peu envisagé dans le contexte de la neurogenèse hippocampique adulte.Nous avons tout d’abord mis au point un protocole de reconsolidation de la mémoire spatiale du rat dans le labyrinthe aquatique de Morris. Cela nous a permis de montrer que les néo-neurones nés avant l’apprentissage étaient activés lors de la reconsolidation de la mémoire spatiale, ce qui n’est pas le cas des neurones issus du développement précoce. Afin de pouvoir établir une relation de causalité entre néo-neurones et processus de reconsolidation, nous avons ensuite développé un outil basé sur la technique pharmacogénétique des DREADDs (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) couplés à un rétrovirus. Cet outil permet de marquer les néo-neurones à leur naissance et de les manipuler (inhiber ou stimuler l’activation) plus tard, lors des processus de mémoire à long terme. Nous avons observé que les néo-neurones immatures modifiés par l’apprentissage étaient non seulement activés par la reconsolidation mais également nécessaire à celle-ci, à l’inverse des néo-neurones matures au moment de l’apprentissage. Nous avons enfin montré que stimuler l’activité des néo-neurones au moment de la restitution de la mémoire améliorait les performances des rats dans le labyrinthe aquatique.Ensemble, ces résultats de thèse soulignent le rôle critique de la neurogenèse hippocampique adulte dans la stabilisation de la mémoire spatiale à long terme. / Adult hippocampal neurogenesis refers to the creation of neurons during adult life in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. A decade of research has demonstrated the importance of this adult neurogenesis in memory processes. In particular, adult neurogenesis is necessary for spatial learning and spatial learning itself increases survival and accelerates the development of a population of new immature neurons. However, the involvement of these new modified / promoted / amplified / selected neurons by learning in the fate of memory remains unclear. The work of this thesis focuses on the study of the role of these new neurons in the long-term spatial memory processes resulting from the original learning, such as retrieval and reconsolidation.For more than a century, we know that learning does not immediately induce a stable memory. Memories are fragile at first and then become stable and insensitive to interferences over time, through a process called “memory consolidation". However this process is not immutable; the established memories can become labile again when they are reactivated during memory recall. This destabilization of a consolidated memory requires then a new stabilization process called "memory reconsolidation". Since its discovery, the reconsolidation process has strongly interested the memory research community and a growing number of studies have sought to understand the mechanisms underlying this reconsolidation, particularly in the hippocampus. Surprisingly, the process of reconsolidation has rarely been considered in the context of adult hippocampal neurogenesis.We first developed a protocol for memory reconsolidation of spatial memory in the Morris water maze in rats. This allowed us to show that new neurons born before learning were activated during reconsolidation of spatial memory, which is not the case of the neurons generated during the early development. In order to establish a causal relationship between new neurons and reconsolidation, we developed a tool based on the pharmacogenetic technique of DREADDs (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) coupled with a retrovirus. This tool is used to tag new neurons at their birth and manipulate them (inhibit or stimulate their activation) later during long-term memory processes. We observed that the population of neurons that were immature at the time of learning are not only activated by but also necessary for reconsolidation, unlike new neurons that were mature at the time of learning. We have finally shown that stimulating the activity of new neurons during retrieval improves the performance of rats in the water maze.All together, these thesis results highlight the critical role of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in long-term spatial memory stabilization.

Orientador: Luiz Henrique Florindo / Resumo: Atualmente é bem estabelecido que o hipocampo (HPC) possui um papel importante nos processamentos de aprendizagem e memória. No entanto, existem controvérsias sobre as funções das sub-regiões do Corno de Amon (CA) do HPC propriamente dito e em relação à lateralização funcional dessa estrutura. A partir disso, a função do hipocampo dorsal (HPCd) na memória de reconhecimento e espacial (recente e remota), foi analisada através da inativação direita, esquerda ou bilateral da área CA3. Foram utilizados 37 ratos Wistar distribuídos em quatro grupos: grupo GVe (n=8), que receberam injeção bilateral de tampão fosfato-salina (PBS - veículo) na região CA3 do HPCd; grupo HPCd-D (n=9), que receberam injeção do lesionador ácido ibotênico (IBO) na região do hemisfério direito; grupo HPCd-E (n=10), que receberam injeção de IBO na região do hemisfério esquerdo; e grupo HPCd-BI (n=10), que receberam injeção bilateral de IBO na região de ambos HPCd. Os animais foram submetidos ao labirinto aquático de Morris (LAM), teste de reconhecimento de objetos (TRO) e labirinto em T forçado. Os dados foram submetidos ao teste de homogeneidade de Shapiro-Wilk, seguido de análise de variância (ANOVA), e pelo teste de Tukey para dados paramétricos, ou pelo teste de KruskalWallis seguido de teste de Dunn para dados não paramétricos. Foi admitido nível de significância para p<0,05. Nenhum dos animais apresentou comprometimento para realização de comportamentos exploratórios. Não houve diferenças entre os ani... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Currently the hippocampus (HPC) has a well established role in learning and memory processing. However, there are controversies about the functions of sub-regions of the Corno de Amon (CA) of the HPC itself and in relation to the functional lateralization of this structure. From this, the function of the dorsal hippocampus (dHPC) in the recognition and spatial memory (recent and remote), was analyzed through the right, left or bilateral inactivation of the CA3 area. Thirty seven Wistar rats were distributed in four groups: group GVe (n = 8), with animals received bilateral injection of phosphate-saline buffer (PBS - vehicle) in the CA3 region of dHPC; group dHPC-R (n = 9), with animals received an injection of the ibotenic acid injury (IBO) in the right hemisphere region; group dHPC-L (n = 10), with animals received an IBO injection in the left hemisphere region; and group dHPC-BI, with animals received bilateral IBO injection in the region of both HPCd. The animals were submitted to the Morris water maze (MWM), object recognition test (ORT) and forced T maze. Data were by first analyzed by Shapiro-Wilk’s homogeneity test, followed by analysis of variance (ANOVA), and by Tukey’s post-test for parametric data, or by Kruskal-Wallis’s test followed by Dunn's post-test for nonparametric data. Significance level was admitted for p <0.05. None of the animals was compromised to perform exploratory behaviors. There were no differences between the animals in relation to the allocentri... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Le système vestibulaire est le seul sens ne possédant pas un cortex primaire mais plusieurs zones corticales rassemblées sous le terme « cortex vestibulaire ». Le rôle et le fonctionnement du cortex vestibulaire restent peu connus à l’état physiologique, et encore moins chez des personnes souffrant de pathologies vestibulaires ou de l’intégration multisensorielle. Parmi ces régions, l’hippocampe joue un rôle fondamental dans la cognition d’origine vestibulaire et en particulier dans l’orientation spatiale et la formation de carte cognitive. Le but de ce travail était d’étudier la répartition des influx vestibulaires au sein de l’hippocampe, chez le rat qui représente l’espèce où les connaissances sur l’hippocampe sont les plus développées. Pour cela nous avons mis au point une méthode de lésion labyrinthique chirurgicale et une méthode de stimulation électrique sélective de chaque senseur vestibulaire (3 ampoules canalaires, les macules utriculaires et sacculaires). Cette méthode a ensuite été appliquée pour étudier le reflex vestibulo-oculaire spécifique de chaque senseur du rat. Ce reflex vestibulo-oculaire a ensuite était utilisée comme témoin d’une stimulation efficace et sélective de chaque senseur vestibulaire. Nous avons enfin étudié la projection des influx vestibulaires au niveau de l’hippocampe par analyse immunohistochimique de la protéine cFOS, considéré comme un marqueur de l’activité neuronale. Les résultats retrouvent une prédominance de cFOS au niveau de l’hippocampe dorsal, dans la région CA2-CA3. Ces résultats sont cohérents avec l’implication de l’hippocampe dorsal dans la cognition et le rôle de CA3 dans l’encodage de nouvelles informations spatiales, dans la mémoire à court terme et dans la représentation spatiale géométrique de l’environnement. / The vestibular system is the only sense that lake a primary cortex but project to several cortical areas known as the "vestibular cortex". The roles and functioning of the vestibular cortex remain poorly known, neither in the physiological state, nor in pathologies involving the vestibular system. Among these cortices, the hippocampus plays a fundamental role in vestibular cognition and in particular in spatial orientation and cognitive map formation. The purpose of this work was to study the distribution of vestibular inputs within the rat’s hippocampus, which represents the species where hippocampus is best known. For this purpose we have developed a method of surgical labyrinthectomy and a method of selective electrical stimulation of each vestibular sensor (3 canals ampullae, utricular and saccular maculae). This method was then applied to study the vestibulo-ocular reflex specific of each sensor in the rat. This vestibulo-ocular reflex was further used during electrical stimulation of each sensor to control the effectiveness and selectiveness of the stimulation. Finally, we studied the vestibular imputs in the hippocampus by immunohistochemical analysis of the cFOS protein, which is considered as a marker of neuronal activity. The results show a predominance of cFOS labelling in the dorsal hippocampus, in the CA2-CA3 region. These results are consistent with the role of the dorsal hippocampus in cognition and the role of CA3 encoding of new spatial information within short-term memory and in processing the geometry of the environment.

Past studies have shown that ontogenetic treatment of quinpirole (QNP) produces a number of behavioral effects that can be alleviated by administration of antipsychotics such as haloperidol, providing a useful behavioral screen for disorders such as schizophrenia. In this study, 16 female Sprague-dawley rats were used, with 8 rats injected with QNP(1 mg/kg) and 8 rats injected with saline once daily from postnatal days (PD) 1-11. All rats were behaviorally tested as adults on several tasks: The reference and working memory versions of the Morris water task (MWT), the radial arm maze (RAM), the Whishaw reaching task, and locomotor activity. Results showed that on the MWT, QNP-treated rats demonstrated significant enhancement on acquisition latency of both versions, but a deficit on the probe trial of the reference memory version. The acquisition enhancement was due to hyperlocomotion observed in QNP-treated rats, because these animals demonstrated increased locomotion in an activity chamber compared to controls. On the RAM, QNP-treated rats demonstrated a deficit in reference memory but not working memory, congruent with MWT findings. Interestingly, QNP-treated rats demonstrated a significant enhancement in reaching accuracy on the Whishaw reaching task, which may due to an overactive dopaminergic system. Future studies will analyze underlying mechanisms.

yes / Evidence suggests that flavonoid-rich foods are capable of inducing improvements in memory and cognition in animals and humans. However, there is a lack of clarity concerning whether flavonoids are the causal agents in inducing such behavioral responses. Here we show that supplementation with pure anthocyanins or pure flavanols for 6 weeks, at levels similar to that found in blueberry (2% w/w), results in an enhancement of spatial memory in 18 month old rats. Pure flavanols and pure anthocyanins were observed to induce significant improvements in spatial working memory (p = 0.002 and p = 0.006 respectively), to a similar extent to that following blueberry supplementation (p = 0.002). These behavioral changes were paralleled by increases in hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (R = 0.46, p<0.01), suggesting a common mechanism for the enhancement of memory. However, unlike protein levels of BDNF, the regional enhancement of BDNF mRNA expression in the hippocampus appeared to be predominantly enhanced by anthocyanins. Our data support the claim that flavonoids are likely causal agents in mediating the cognitive effects of flavonoid-rich foods.

Background: The main aim of the studies in this thesis is to provide insights into the neonatal phencyclidine (PCP) induced deficits in male and female rats as a neurodevelopmental animal model of schizophrenia. Methods: Both male and female rats were treated with neonatal PCP on postnatal days (PNDs) 7,9 and 11 or vehicle, followed by weaning on PND 21-22. The rats were then tested in behavioural paradigms such as novel object recognition, spatial memory and social interaction in their adolescent and adult stages and were also tested with acute treatment of typical and atypical antipsychotic agents. Results: Neonatal PCP treatment (10 & 20 mg/kg in males and 10 mg/kg in females; once a day for 3 days on PND 7,9 and 11) caused novel object recognition and spatial memory impairment in male and female rats both in the adolescent (PND35-56) and in the adult stages (PND>56) (chapter 2) and robust deficits in social interaction behaviours in the adolescent stage. The SI deficits were observed in adulthood in female but not in male rats thereby establishing a sex-specific social behavioural deficit (chapter 3). The object memory and social interaction deficits induced by neonatal PCP treatment were reversed following acute risperidone but not haloperidol. Finally, the temporal profile of this treatment regime was investigated and the male and female animals were tested on PND 190 and PND 365. The animals did not have any challenge dose of PCP during their testing stage. The result showed that there was significant deficit in object and spatial recognition memory in both male and female animals at both time points, thereby establishing enduring deficits. Conclusion: Given the heterogeneity of the schizophrenic disorder and its complex aetiology, it is understandably difficult to find animal models that completely mimic most or all of the symptoms associated with the disorder. However, data from the studies in this thesis support the use of neonatal PCP as a valid animal model of cognitive and negative symptoms, and explores the effect of antipsychotics in understanding the model. Also, in light of the efficacy of neonatal PCP to produce robust object, spatial memory and social interaction deficits in rats, it appears that this model may be a useful tool to investigate the potential of novel therapeutic candidates that may help improve therapy and understand the illness.