Biopsychological study on the role of brain glutamate receptors in learning and memory

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Although it has recently been suggested that NMDA receptors are associated with memory and learning, there has been only a few behavioral studies on the role of NMDA receptors in specific brain regions. In this study, using radial maze learning task and a microinjection technique of specific agonists and antagonists, we investigated the role of brain NMDA receptors in spatial memory.We first tested the effects of intrahippocampal microinjection of competitive and non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonists (AP5 and MK-801, respectively) on the rats' performance in radial maze. Both of them markedly impaired the correct performance while the AP5 treatment into the striatum did not have any effect on radial maze performance, suggesting that NMDA receptors in the hippocampus play an important role in spatial memory.NMDA receptors consist of several subcomponents. We tested the effects of intrahippocampal treatment of DCS, a glycine-site agonist, on spatial memory deficits in radial maze task produced by systemic MK-801. DCS improved the MK-801-induced performance impairment, suggesting that glycine sites are involved in spatial memory through their modulatory action on hippocampal NMDA receptors.