标题：Modification of Serial Pattern Learning by Designer Tryptamine Exposure during Adolescence: Comparison with Damage to the Dorsal Hippocampus or Prefrontal Cortex
期刊名称：International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
印刷版ISSN：2163-1948
电子版ISSN：2163-1956
出版年度：2012
卷号：2
期号：6
页码：263-273
DOI：10.5923/j.ijpbs.20120206.10
语种：English
出版社：Scientific & Academic Publishing Co.
摘要：Foxy or Methoxy Foxy (5-MeO-DIPT) is one of a series of new “club drugs” that within the past decade has gained in popularity among recreational users as an alternative to MDMA (Ecstasy). Unlike MDMA, not much is known about the neurobiological consequences of 5-MeO-DIPT use. Little is known about the effects of either compound on learning in a nonspatial appetitive task. In the present study, adolescent rats were given repeated injections of 10 mg/kg of 5-MeO-DIPT, MDMA, or a corresponding volume of isotonic saline. In serial learning tasks, depending on task demands, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that multiple memory systems play a critical role, with each system playing a more or less dominant role depending on the available stimuli and task demands. Therefore, for comparison purposes, the drug-treated rats were compared with that of hippocampus- or prefrontal cortex-lesioned rats. After adolescent drug exposure or lesions during adolescence, adult animals were trained All animals were trained for 30 days on a three-element, nonmonotonic pattern consisting of 21, 0, and 7 food pellets, respectively. Control rats were capable of distinguishing among the elements of the series, as indexed by running times. As expected, the tracking performance of the lesioned rats was impaired. Performance in both the 5-MeO-DIPT- and the MDMA-treated rats improved with training but after 30 days was not markedly different than the lesioned animals. The results are discussed in terms of measured alterations in serotonin activity in the forebrain and the consequences of compromised serotoninergic systems on the cognitive processes involved in appetitive serial learning tasks.
