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

尽管最近有研究表明NMDA受体与记忆和学习有关，但关于NMDA受体在特定大脑区域中的作用的行为研究却很少。在这项研究中，我们利用径向迷宫学习任务和特异性激动剂和拮抗剂的显微注射技术，研究了脑NMDA受体在空间记忆中的作用。我们首先测试了海马内显微注射竞争性和非竞争性NMDA受体拮抗剂（AP5和MK-801）对大鼠径向迷宫表现的影响。而AP5在纹状体的处理对径向迷宫的表现没有任何影响，这表明海马中的NMDA受体在空间记忆中起重要作用。NMDA受体由几个亚组分组成。我们测试了海马内治疗DCS（一种甘氨酸受体激动剂）对全身MK-801引起的径向迷宫任务中空间记忆缺陷的影响。DCS改善了mk -801诱导的表现障碍，表明甘氨酸位点通过对海马NMDA受体的调节作用参与了空间记忆。

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.