Distinct roles of the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex in GABAA receptor blockade-induced enhancement of object recognition memory

Brain Res. 2014 Mar 13:1552:17-25. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2014.01.024. Epub 2014 Jan 24.

Abstract

It is well known that the hippocampus plays a role in spatial and contextual memory, and that spatial information is tightly regulated by the hippocampus. However, it is still highly controversial whether the hippocampus plays a role in object recognition memory. In a pilot study, the administration of bicuculline, a GABAA receptor antagonist, enhanced memory in the passive avoidance task, but not in the novel object recognition task. In the present study, we hypothesized that these different results are related to the characteristics of each task and the different roles of hippocampus and perirhinal cortex. A region-specific drug-treatment model was employed to clarify the role of the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex in object recognition memory. After a single habituation in the novel object recognition task, intra-perirhinal cortical injection of bicuculline increased and intra-hippocampal injection decreased the exploration time ratio to novel object. In addition, when animals were repeatedly habituated to the context, intra-perirhinal cortical administration of bicuculline still increased exploration time ratio to novel object, but the effect of intra-hippocampal administration disappeared. Concurrent increases of c-Fos expression and ERK phosphorylation were observed in the perirhinal cortex of the object with context-exposed group either after single or repeated habituation to the context, but no changes were noted in the hippocampus. Altogether, these results suggest that object recognition memory formation requires the perirhinal cortex but not the hippocampus, and that hippocampal activation interferes with object recognition memory by the information encoding of unfamiliar environment.

Keywords: Bicuculline; GABA(A) receptor; Hippocampus; Perirhinal cortex; Recognition memory.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bicuculline / pharmacology*
  • Exploratory Behavior / drug effects
  • Exploratory Behavior / physiology
  • Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / metabolism
  • GABA-A Receptor Antagonists / pharmacology*
  • Genes, fos
  • Habituation, Psychophysiologic / drug effects
  • Habituation, Psychophysiologic / physiology
  • Hippocampus / physiology*
  • Male
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / genetics
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / metabolism
  • Organ Specificity
  • Parahippocampal Gyrus / physiology*
  • Phosphorylation
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / biosynthesis
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Receptors, GABA-A / physiology*
  • Recognition, Psychology / drug effects
  • Recognition, Psychology / physiology*

Substances

  • GABA-A Receptor Antagonists
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos
  • Receptors, GABA-A
  • Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases
  • Bicuculline