Date of Completion
Spring 5-6-2012
Thesis Advisor(s)
James Chrobak
Honors Major
Psychology
Disciplines
Biological Psychology
Abstract
Memory consolidation is the process wherein short-term, episodic memories are converted into stable, long-term representations. Forebrain N-methy-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), particularly frontal cortical and hippocampal receptors, are thought to play a key role in neuronal plasticity and memory consolidation. Ketamine is an NMDA antagonist that disrupts memory, particularly encoding and retrieval processes. Previously we have observed no effect of post-acquisition ketamine treatment (50-100 mg/kg) on memory consolidation in rats performing a delayed-match-to place radial water maze task. The current study reexamined the effects of ketamine (25-100 mg/kg) on memory consolidation in this task over varying retention intervals (4, 24, and 48 hours). Consistent with previous data, no effect of ketamine treatment was seen at the four-hour retention interval. However, errors significantly increased at both the 24 and 48-hour intervals in rats treated with 100mg/kg ketamine. At 48 hours post-treatment, ketamine (25-100 mg/kg) produced a dose-dependent disruption of consolidation. These results indicate that a dose and delay dependent disruption of memory consolidation consequent of ketamine administration. In summary, these studies demonstrate that NMDA antagonism can disrupt consolidation of episodic memories.
Recommended Citation
Tabtabai, Ryan Darius, "Ketamine Can Disrupt Episodic Memory (Hours to Days) Consolidation: Effects of Varying Dose and Retention Intervals" (2012). Honors Scholar Theses. 261.
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/srhonors_theses/261