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The learning capacity of high or low performance rats is related to the hippocampus NMDA receptors
E A Keller1, C M Borghese, H F Carrer
1Departamento de Farmacologia, Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina.
Abstract:
The hippocampal synaptic plasticity of rats with an inborn high (HP) or low (LP) learning capacity to perform in a shuttle box is closely related to their percentage of conditioned responses (Crs). HP rats show less sensitivity to the blocking effect of 2-aminophosphonopentanoic acid (AP5) on the generation of long-term potentiation (LTP) than do LP rats. Results described in the present report are indicative of an increased density of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in HP rats compared to control and LP rats. We postulate that the differential pharmacological sensitivity of LTP in these rats is a reflection of this biochemical difference. Also, from these results we suggest that the learning capacity may be related to the density of glutamate NMDA receptors of HP, LP and control rats.