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Neuropharmacology Poster Session






Abstract

Introduction

Materials & Methods

Results

Discussion & Conclusion

References




Discussion
Board

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The Effects of the Antiepileptics Phenytoin, Carbamazepine, Valproic Acid and Ethosuximide on Rats Learning a Water Maze Task


Contact Person: James D. Churchill (jchurchi@indiana.edu)


Discussion and Conclusion

Phenytoin-treated subjects were impaired in their ability to locate the platform; and even when [if] they succesfully escaped, their latency to do so was longer than controls.

Rats treated with carbamazepine were initially impaired in locating the platform, but quickly performed comparable to controls.

Our findings generally support the notion that phenytoin may be exerting its antiseizure effects via the hippocampal formation or the prefrontal cortex.

Rats treated with valproic acid were not impaired in the acquisition of an escape response nor were their indices of swim speed, path length or escape latency different from controls.

While rats treated with ethosuximide were not statistically different from controls in the indices of swim speed, path length or escape latency, their overall performance suggests that there could be a small effect on learning that we will explore in the future.

Therefore, we suggest that the Morris water maze task, when used in conjunction with other behavioral tasks, is an effective tool for comparing the relative negative effects of various antiepileptic compounds on learning and memory tasks.

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<= Results DISCUSSION & CONCLUSSIONS References =>

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Churchill, JD; Herron, AH; Fang, P-C; Voss, SE; Garraghty, PE; (1998). The Effects of the Antiepileptics Phenytoin, Carbamazepine, Valproic Acid and Ethosuximide on Rats Learning a Water Maze Task. 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/neuropharm/churchill0693/index.html
© 1998 Author(s) Hold Copyright