• Sheng Li Xue Bao · Dec 2007

    The α(2A)-adrenoceptor agonist guanfacine improves spatial learning but not fear conditioning in rats.

    • Xin-Chun Jin, Chao-Lin Ma, and Bao-Ming Li.
    • Institute of Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
    • Sheng Li Xue Bao. 2007 Dec 25;59(6):739-44.

    AbstractIt is known that stimulation of the α(2A)-adrenoceptors (α(2A)-ARs) by the selective α(2A)-AR agonist guanfacine produces an important and beneficial influence on prefrontal cortical (PFC) cognitive functions such as spatial working memory and selective attention. However, it is unclear whether stimulation of the α(2A)-ARs has a similar effect on fear conditioning that involves the amygdala and hippocampus. Here, we show that systemically administered guanfacine significantly enhances spatial learning of rats in the Lashley maze: compared with controls, the rats treated with guanfacine required significantly fewer trials and made significantly fewer errors to reach learning criterion. However, guanfacine produced no effect on acquisition of contextual and auditory fear memories. The present study suggests that beneficial effect of α(2A)-AR stimulation is task-dependent: guanfacine improves spatial learning but not fear conditioning.

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