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Updated: Aug 20, 2026
Assessing Spatial Memory Impairment in a Mouse Model of Traumatic Brain Injury Using a Radial Water Tread Maze
Published on: July 17, 2017
Spatial discrimination deficits by excitotoxic lesions in the Morris water escape task
L Spowart-Manning1, F J van der Staay
1Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland. spowart1@tcd.ie
Abstract:
The effects of the cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEI) metrifonate and donepezil were assessed on spatial performance of rats with bilateral lesions of the entorhinal cortex (EC), which is thought to model early changes in the brains of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. In the present study, we found that spatial discrimination deficits in rats, induced by bilateral ibotenic acid (IBO) lesions of the EC region can partially be antagonised by treatment with the cholinesterase inhibitors metrifonate (30 mg kg(-1)) and donepezil (0.3 and 3 mg kg(-1)). Performance was improved in the spatial discrimination task compared with that of the EC-lesioned control group. It is concluded that the rat with bilateral EC lesions is a suitable deficit model for the assessment of effects of putative Alzheimer therapeutics.
