Effects of thalamic hemorrhagic lesions on explicit and implicit learning during the acquisition and retrieval phases in an animal model of central post-stroke pain.

Effects of thalamic hemorrhagic lesions on explicit and implicit learning during the acquisition and retrieval phases in an animal model of central post-stroke pain. Behav Brain Res. 2016 Sep 25;317:251-262 Authors: Wang CC, Shih HC, Shyu BC, Huang AC Abstract Hemorrhagic stroke has many symptoms, including central pain, learning and memory impairments, motor deficits, language problems, emotional disturbances, and social maladjustment. Lesions of the ventral basal complex (VBC) of the thalamus elicit thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia, forming an animal model of central post-stroke pain (CPSP). However, no research has yet examined the involvement of learning and memory in CPSP using an animal model. The present study examined whether VBC lesions affect motor function, conditioned place preference (CPP; implicit memory), and spatial learning (explicit memory) in the acquisition and retrieval phases. The results showed that rats with VBC lesions exhibited thermal hyperalgesia in the acquisition and retrieval phases, indicating that these lesions can induce CPSP. During these phases, the rats with VBC lesions exhibited enhanced (morphine-induced) CPP learning. These lesions did not affect the rats' total distance travelled, time spent, or velocity in the spatial learning tasks. The lesions also did not affect motor function in the rotarod task. Altogether, VBC lesions resulted in CPSP and facilitated CPP (implicit memory). However, t...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Behav Brain Res Source Type: research