Task- and Time-Dependent Memory Enhancement byDehydroepiandosterone in Day-Old Chicks

[摘要] We have previously reported the presenceof dehydroepiandosterone (DHEA) in the dayold-chick brain, and a role for it in enhancedmemory formation. Here we confirm thatintracerebral injections of DHEA 5 min beforetraining on the weak passive avoidance taskenhanced recall 24 hours after training. Recallper se on an appetitive visual categorizationtask was not altered by administration ofDHEA 5 min before training. Howeveradministration of DHEA 5 min before limitedor very limited training on a visual categorizationtask (20 or 10 pecks only) appeared toenhance consolidation of this task at test 24 hafter training; reducing the latency and totaltime taken to complete the test (60 pecks), whilenot detrimentally altering accuracy. Moreover,DHEA is unlikely to induce this effect viapossible anxiolytic effects because it did notalter behavior in the open field test. We alsoexamined diffusion of DHEA throughout thebrain at various stages following intracerebralinjection.

[学科分类] 精神健康和精神病学