The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is a basal forebrain structure involved in many motivational processes closely linked to stress regulation. The present study investigated the effect of bilateral lesions of the BNST in male Wistar rats on behavioral despair and navigational learning in the Morris water maze both of which present stressful challenges. Compared to controls, BNST-les...

There are several conflicting evidences showing the effect of morphine on learning and memory processes. In the present study the effect of chronic morphine administration on passive avoidance, active avoidance and spatial learning and memory of morphine dependent male rats using Passive Avoidance shuttle box and Morris Water Maze tasks were investigated, respectively. Male rats received morphi...

Aged-related cognitive ability is highly variable, ranging from unimpaired to severe impairments. The Morris water maze (a reliable tool for assessing memory) has been used to distinguish aged rodents that are superior learners from those that are learning impaired. This task, however, is not practical for pre- and post-pharmacological treatment, as the memory of the task is long lasting. In co...

The aim of present study is to investigate neuroprotective and nootropic activity of Petroleum Ether Extract of Carica papaya seeds (PEECPS) on diabetic induced cognitive decline rats. Rectangular maze and morris water maze models were used to evaluate nootropic activity and neuroprotective effects were studied by estimating acetyl cholinesterase (AchE), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismut...

Introduction: The Alzheimer Disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia that leads to memory impairment. As the oxidative stress plays an important role in AD pathogenesis, the current study aimed at examining the protective effects of Cyperus Rotundus as an antioxidant on amyloid β (Aβ) -induced memory impairment.   Methods: Twenty-eight Wistar male rats received intrahipp...

BACKGROUND Panax ginseng root is used in traditional oriental medicine for human health. Its main active components such as saponins and polysaccharides have been widely evaluated for treating diseases, but secondary active components such as oligosaccharides have been rarely studied. This study aimed to assess the impact of water-soluble ginseng oligosaccharides (WGOS), which were isolated fro...

Ketamine, a non-selective inhibitor of NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) channels is used in anesthetic or sub-anesthetic doses to induce analgesia, amnesia, to suppress fear, anxiety and depression. Although the ketamine's effect on memory acquisition is known, its effects on other aspects of memory are controversial. Morris water maze is a task which assesses spatial learning and memory. This study...

Gonadal hormones have been shown to modulate memory retention in female rats. The current experiments examine the role of testicular hormones in modulating the performance of male rats on two spatial water maze tasks. In the first study, castrated and intact rats were trained on the visible platform and hidden platform versions of the Morris water maze task. Castration did not affect performanc...

The Morris water maze represents the de-facto standard for testing hippocampal function in laboratory rodents. In the field of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, however, using this paradigm to assess the functional relevance of the new neurons yielded surprisingly inconsistent results. While some authors found aspects of water maze performance to be linked to adult neurogenesis, others obtained d...