Effects of an NMDA-receptor antagonist MK-801 on an MMN-like response recorded in anesthetized rats

Brain Res. 2008 Apr 8:1203:97-102. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2008.02.006. Epub 2008 Feb 13.

Abstract

In the human brain, auditory sensory memory has been extensively studied using a well-defined component of event-related potential named the mismatch negativity (MMN). The MMN is generated in the auditory and frontal cortices in response to deviant stimuli. In monkeys, cortical N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors have a central role in the generation of the MMN. MMN-like responses have also been recorded in other animals, including rats. The present study aimed at determining whether the MMN-like response in rats depends on an intact NMDA-receptor system. We recorded auditory evoked responses during an oddball paradigm epidurally in anesthetized rats that had received intraperitoneal injections of saline or an NMDA-receptor antagonist MK-801. An MMN-like response was recorded in the oddball paradigm in saline-treated rats. Further, this response was dose-dependently blocked by MK-801. These results suggest that the MMN-like response in rats depends on an intact NMDA-receptor system.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation / methods
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Anesthesia
  • Animals
  • Auditory Cortex / drug effects*
  • Auditory Cortex / physiology
  • Contingent Negative Variation / drug effects*
  • Dizocilpine Maleate / pharmacology*
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Electroencephalography
  • Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists / pharmacology*
  • Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / pharmacology*
  • Male
  • N-Methylaspartate / pharmacology*
  • Rats
  • Reaction Time / drug effects

Substances

  • Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists
  • Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists
  • N-Methylaspartate
  • Dizocilpine Maleate