International journal of developmental neuroscience : the official journal of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience
-
Int. J. Dev. Neurosci. · Feb 2009
Early postnatal maternal deprivation in rats induces memory deficits in adult life that can be reversed by donepezil and galantamine.
Early postnatal maternal deprivation is known to cause long-lasting neurobiological effects. Here, we investigated whether some of the cognitive aspects of these deficits might be related to a disruption of the cholinergic system. Pregnant Wistar rats were individually housed and maintained on a 12:12h light/dark cycle with food and water freely available. ⋯ In addition, they showed a clear impairment in memory of the two recognition tasks measured 24h after training. Oral administration of the acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, donepezil or galantamine (1mg/kg) 30min before training reversed the memory impairments caused by maternal deprivation. The findings suggest that maternal deprivation affects memory processing at adulthood through a change in brain cholinergic systems.