Chinese Journal of Neuroanatomy 2005;21(5):503-506

EFFECTS OF CORTICOTROPIN RELEASING FACTOR ON LEARNING AND MEMORY IN THE NUCLEUS BASALIS OF MEYNERT IN RATS

Boning YANG ; Guohe TAN ; Li WEI ; Ling LAN

Keywords

corticotropin releasing factor; spatial learning; memory; Morris water maze; nucleus basalis of Meynert; rat

Country

China

Language

Chinese

Abstract

The present study was performed to explore the role of corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) in the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) in spatial learning and memory of rats. The latency, distance and swimming path to find the platform were measured by Morris water maze after intra-NBM injections of 0, 0.01, 0.1 and 0.4 nmol of CRF. Intra-NBM injections of 0.1 or 0.4 nmol of CRF induced significant increase of the latency for spatial learning and memory, and there were no significant changes in the swimming speed in Morris water maze test. The results suggest that CRF plays an inhibitory role in spatial learning and memory consolidation in the NBM of rats.