| Abstract: | Used kainic acid (KA; 1 and 2 μg/μl) lesions to study the effects of damage to the CA3 cell field and subiculum on performance of complex place and cue tasks by 54 male albino rats. In Exp I, neuroanatomical techniques determined the selectivity of the lesions. In a within-Ss design, Ss in Exp II were trained before the operations to run on an 8-arm radial maze with procedures that involved 2 kinds of learning (place and cue) and 2 memory functions (reference memory and working memory). Interrupting the intrahippocampal circuit by damaging the CA3 cell field with KA had minimal effects on performance; injections into subiculum and complete aspiration lesions of hippocampus resulted in impairments on the place but not the cue task. Only intraventricular injections of KA affected performance on both tasks. Results fail to support either the cognitive map or the working memory theory of hippocampal function. It is suggested that distant damage beyond the immediate area of injection complicates interpretation of the results and may limit the usefulness of KA as a neurotoxin in behavioral investigations. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
