Effects of chronic diisopropylfluorophosphate treatment on spatial learning in mice

The Morris water task was used to measure the effects of chronic diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) treatment on C57BL/6Ibg mice. Control mice showed good task acquisition and searched accurately for the platform after it was removed from the pool, suggesting that they had formed a spatial map of the platform's location relative to distal cues. In contrast, mice chronically treated with DFP prior to training showed a marked deficit in spatial learning. Chronic DFP treatment did not affect ability to locate a visible platform and did not impair task retention in mice trained to find the hidden platform prior to DFP treatment. The chronic DFP treatment decreased muscarinic binding in cortex, hippocampus, and striatum. These results indicate that C57BL mice are capable of spatial learning in the water task. The ability of chronic DFP treatment to impair place but not cue learning suggests that the cholinergic dysfunction produced by DFP is similar to those produced by lesions of central cholinergic systems and acute treatments with muscarinic antagonists.