INABIS '98 - Appetitive-to-Aversive Instrumental Transfer: A Behavioral Paradigm Useful for Evaluation of the Relative Negative Learning/Memory Side-Effects of Antiepileptics.

Appetitive-to-Aversive Instrumental Transfer: A Behavioral Paradigm Useful for Evaluation of the Relative Negative Learning/Memory Side-Effects of Antiepileptics.
Banks, M.K. (Dept. of Psychology, Program in Neural Science, Indiana University, USA)
Garraghty, P.E. (Dept. of Psychology, Program in Neural Science, Indiana University, USA)

Contact Person: Melissa K Banks (mebanks@indiana.edu)

Abstract

Over the past two decades, evidence that anti-seizure medications impart unwanted cognitive side effects has surfaced. The literature is extensive, yet marked by inconsistency. In this study, we have evaluated the effects of phenytoin (DPH), carbamazepine (CBZ), valproic acid (VPA), and felbamate (FBM) in an instrumental appetitive-to-aversive transfer paradigm. We first trained rats to obtain food reinforcement with a barpress (CR) in the presence of a tone. This training continued for 21 daily sessions, at which time treatment with one of the medications was initiated. The effects of each medication on appetitive performance were assessed for the next 10 days. Animals treated with VPA or FBM demonstrated a slight decrement in appetitive performance, unlike the animals treated with DPH or CBZ. The rats were then transferred to the tone-signaled avoidance task for 25 daily sessions. Treatment with DPH or CBZ impaired avoidance learning, with the deleterious effects of DPH being substantially more pronounced. Relative to control rats, VPA- or FBM-treated rats showed no terminal avoidance performance deficits, though the acquisition rates of the VPA-treated rats were slightly retarded. These results demonstrate that this behavioral paradigm is sufficiently sensitive to detect performance differences between animals receiving different antiepileptic compounds.

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Poster Number PAbanks0749
Keywords: antiepileptics, learning, memory, epilepsy, cognition

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Banks, M.K.; Garraghty, P.E.; (1998). Appetitive-to-Aversive Instrumental Transfer: A Behavioral Paradigm Useful for Evaluation of the Relative Negative Learning/Memory Side-Effects of Antiepileptics.. Presented at INABIS '98 - 5th Internet World Congress on Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University, Canada, Dec 7-16th. Available at URL http://www.mcmaster.ca/inabis98/behavneuro/banks0749/index.html