Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale
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Children show motor learning deficits relative to adults across a diverse range of tasks. One mechanism that has been proposed to underlie these differences is the contribution of online and offline components to overall learning; however, these tasks have almost focused exclusively on sequence learning paradigms which are characterized by performance gains in the offline phase. Here, we examined the role of online and offline learning in a novel motor task which was characterized by warm-up decrement, i.e., a performance loss, during the offline phase. ⋯ We also found distinct changes in online and offline learning with practice; the amount of online learning decreased with practice, whereas offline learning was relatively stable across practice. However, there was no detectable effect of age group on either online or offline learning. These results suggest that age-related differences in learning among children 8-10 years old are persistent even after extended practice but are not necessarily accounted for by differences in online and offline learning.
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The search for new ligands to treat neuropathic pain remains a challenge. Recently, oxytocin has emerged as an interesting molecule modulating nociception at central and peripheral levels, but no attempt has been made to evaluate the effect of recurrent oxytocin administration in neuropathic pain. Using male Wistar rats with spinal nerve ligation, we evaluated the effects of recurrent spinal (1 nmol; given by lumbar puncture) or peripheral (31 nmol; given by intraplantar injection in the ipsilateral paw to spinal nerve ligation) oxytocin administration on pain-like behavior in several nociceptive tests (tactile allodynia and thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia) on different days. ⋯ This effect was associated with a decline in the activity of primary afferent Aδ- and C-fibers. The above findings show that repeated spinal or peripheral oxytocin administration attenuates the pain-like behavior in a well-established model of neuropathic pain. This study provides a basis for addressing the therapeutic relevance of oxytocin in chronic pain conditions.