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Behavioral differences in the developing rat following postnatal anoxia or postnatally injected AF-64A, a cholinergic neurotoxin

1988; Elsevier BV; Volume: 30; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0166-4328(88)90010-1

1872-7549

Zipora Speiser, Judith Amitzi-Sonder, S. Gitter, Sasson Cohen,

Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Rat pups were submitted postnatally to one of two procedures: a 25-min exposure to 100% nitrogen or an i.c.v. bilateral injection of AF-64A, 2 nmol contained in 1-μl saline. Throughout further development of either group, their performance in passive and active avoidance tests and in amphetamine-induced stereotype behavior was followed and compared. Both groups exhibited hyperactivity which persisted until 42 days of age in the anoxia group and beyond 120 days in the AF-64A group. Both groups were equally inferior to controls in the passive avoidance test, but only the anoxia group was inferior to controls in the active avoidance test. Amphetamine-induced stereotype behavior was much less pronounced in the anoxia group relative to AF-64A-treated rats or to controls. The results suggest that the lesion induced by the neurotoxin is more specific and less widespread than the one caused by anoxia.