HOMEPRODUCTSCOMPANYCONTACTFAQResearchDictionaryPharmaSign Up FREE or Login

Memory loss in chemotherapy-treated rats is exacerbated in high-interference conditions and related to suppression of hippocampal neurogenesis.

Abstract
Drugs used to treat cancer have neurotoxic effects that often produce memory loss and related cognitive deficits. In a test of the hypothesis that chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment is related to a loss of inhibitory control, rats injected with a combination of methotrexate+5-fluouracil or equal volumes of saline, were administered a retroactive interference task in which memory for a learned discrimination problem was tested under conditions of high- and low-interference. The drugs had no effect on original learning or on re-learning the discrimination response when there was little interference, but the chemotherapy group was severely impaired in the hippocampus-sensitive, high-interference memory test. The impaired performance correlated significantly with reduced neurogenesis in the hippocampus. The failure to suppress interfering influences is consistent with a breakdown in pattern separation, a process that distinguishes and separates overlapping neural representations of experiences that have a high degree of similarity.
AuthorsGordon Winocur, J Martin Wojtowicz, Ian F Tannock
JournalBehavioural brain research (Behav Brain Res) Vol. 281 Pg. 239-44 (Mar 15 2015) ISSN: 1872-7549 [Electronic] Netherlands
PMID25529185 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
CopyrightCopyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Chemical References
  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Fluorouracil
  • Methotrexate
Topics
  • Animals
  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic (adverse effects)
  • Antineoplastic Agents (adverse effects)
  • Discrimination Learning (drug effects)
  • Female
  • Fluorouracil (adverse effects)
  • Hippocampus (drug effects, pathology)
  • Maze Learning (drug effects)
  • Memory (drug effects)
  • Memory Disorders (chemically induced, psychology)
  • Methotrexate (adverse effects)
  • Neurogenesis (drug effects)
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Psychomotor Performance (drug effects)
  • Rats
  • Rats, Long-Evans

Join CureHunter, for free Research Interface BASIC access!

Take advantage of free CureHunter research engine access to explore the best drug and treatment options for any disease. Find out why thousands of doctors, pharma researchers and patient activists around the world use CureHunter every day.
Realize the full power of the drug-disease research graph!


Choose Username:
Email:
Password:
Verify Password:
Enter Code Shown: